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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Terror Attack in France Kills At Least 84; President Condemns Terror Attack; Presidential Candidates React to Nice Attack; Trump Delays VP Announcement. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired July 15, 2016 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:26] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Terror in France. People run for their lives as a gunman shoots, but then drives over dozens and dozens and dozens of pedestrians. A day of celebration turns to tragedy. Eighty-four people dead this morning, at least. Who was the killer? Did he act alone?

Welcome to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Alison Kosik. It's Friday, July 15th. It's 4:00 a.m. in the East. And welcome all of our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world.

And breaking news now: a new death toll in the French terror attack. At least 84 people killed and more than 100 injured in horrific attack in southern France on Bastille Day. An armed terrorist driving a large truck, shooting at pedestrians, then mowing down dozens of other people on the main boulevard through Nice.

Police quickly action, shooting the gunman dead. This cellphone video that you're seeing there, capturing the sound of the terrifying scene. Right now, investigators are trying to figure out whether the ID of a 31-year-old French-Tunisian man that was found in the truck, in the truck cab, whether that matches the body of the driver. Also in the truck, officials -- officers found several fake rifles and fake grenades along with one real handgun.

This as French President Francois Hollande declares the attack an act of terrorism and extend the state of emergency for the entire country. Witnesses in Nice describe a truly gruesome scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOMINIQUE MOLINA, WITNESSED ATTACK (via telephone): I heard a lot of loud noises and people were screaming. And so, to the west, a big moving truck was driving on the promenade just barreling over people and running people over. I mean, the crime scene itself, you have to picture, about an estimate of distance, but a couple of miles long easily. As soon as the truck went out of view, we heard a barrage of gunfire. It sounded like a shooting range.

I tried to make sense of that because I could not see what was happening. I wondered if it's that fireworks, but it definitely was not fireworks. And you heard screaming, and then you just see masses of people fleeing like running away.

And within a few moments of the gunfire, everything went very quiet. Eerily quiet. Then you hear wailing and screaming and crying and victims on the ground and family members finding their loved ones dead. There are bodies everywhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: What a horrific scene. Let's go life to Paris where CNN Becky Anderson is standing by.

Becky, what's the latest?

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The latest is that the president is defense and security council meeting in Paris as we speak. When that is concluded, he will join the prime minister and they will travel to Nice which is the southern beach resort town. Many of our viewers are well aware and they will be there and try to comfort of those involved with or touched by these awful, awful attacks. The hospitals overnight and we're talking 12 hours since 10:00 when these celebrations, these fireworks celebrating Bastille Day were cut short by brutal, brutal attacks.

The hospitals have been appealing for blood. They have stopped doing that. At this stage, this is an anti-terror investigation led by the counterterror unit here in France. And despite the fact that there is no claim of responsibility as of yet, we do know that in the past, groups like ISIS have appealed to their followers to carry out this sort of attack, very little known at this point about the motivation of the driver of this truck.

We are learning a little bit more about him from sources. You say he was on police list, but for weapons, possession of crimes and not on intelligence services lists.

[04:05:04] We are learning more about the identity, the provisional identity of the character they believed to be involved in this attack as the hours go by. This investigation is very, very early hours at this point as you can imagine.

KOSIK: What are you learning more about the investigation? I'm talking not just at the scene, but now there is an I.D. car, whether or not that matched the driver, that's unknown yet. But is there a side investigation going on following that I.D.?

ANDERSON: We are hearing reports that -- let me get this straight. There was an identity card found in the cab of the truck. And this identity card was for a 31-year-old French-Tunisian man who was a resident of Nice, the beach town resort where this happened.

Now, the authorities are trying to do at this point and they seem to be getting closer to this is to match that identity card with the body that was taken from the cab of this truck. This would be the driver and this was a driver who was shot and killed after he drove some near two kilometers. That's nearly 1 1/2 miles slowly along the Promenade des Anglais which is a route along the beach in Nice, which was supposed to be cordoned off, authorities tell us, because of the thousands of people who were there to enjoy the fireworks.

Once this awful event had closed down because it closed out as authorities shot and killed this man in the cab, this identity card was then found. We are hearing reports that the person associated with that identity card home is now being searched as a side investigation. I have to say as well, President Hollande who spoke to the nation at 3:30 in the morning said if authorities hadn't acted as quickly as they did on the scene to shoot and kill the perpetrator of this crime, it could have been, he said, a whole lot worse. That simply doesn't bear thinking about it.

BERMAN: All right. Becky Anderson, stand by, for a moment.

I want to bring in CNN terror analyst Paul Cruickshank on the phone from Nice, and CNN military analyst, Colonel Cedric Leighton, former member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who's in Washington for us this morning.

Paul, you are on the phone. You are deeply sourced with the European security agencies. This morning, there is no claim of responsibility, Paul. But if you can hear me, what are you learning?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERROR ANALYST (via telephone): John, no claim of responsibility thus far from any terrorist group. There have been celebration on social media from both ISIS supporters and al Qaeda supporters for this attack. But no credible claim of responsibility thus far from any terrorist group. We don't yet know the motivation of the perpetrator.

I'm told from sources here that the provisional identification of the attacker, they were not on the terror watch list in France. They did not have a counter surveillance file listed for them with regards to terrorism, John. But they were known for petty crime violations.

Now, separately, French media outlet reporting that right now here in Nice, there is an ongoing search at a property in the city that they believe belonged to the attacker. So, we may find out more in the minutes ahead on what they find there and what pieces they can put together in this investigation, John. But, certainly, this has all the hallmarks of an ISIS-inspired or an ISIS terrorist attack.

BERMAN: And, Colonel, the timing of this and location of this, I mean, is no accident. Bastille Day is the French National Day. Thousands of people would have been lying the streets there in Nice. Imagine the Fourth of July and National Mall or the East River here in New York. This is when thousands of people gather together to be together and this type of attack sends a very clear message.

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It sure does, John. The reason Bastille Day was picked because it was the symbol of liberty and the whole ideal of the French Revolution.

You are right. People gather in the locations because they want to celebrate the idea of France. They want to celebrate the whole idea of being part of that ideal that France represents. So, this was a tragic attack because it was deemed to be a good target

by ISIS or whoever perpetrated this. As you said before, there is no claim of responsibility yet, but everything we know so far points to a deliberate act and potentially ISIS being the perpetrator in this case.

[04:10:08] BERMAN: And, Paul Cruickshank, France just made it through Euro 2016 where thousands flocked to France to watch the soccer tournament. Now one week later, there is this.

Is there a sense that France let its guard down? I know we need to know the specifics of how the truck got to where it was. But I know here in the United States, a celebration like this, you can imagine barricades being set up.

CRUICKSHANK: John, I can tell you there was that concern among the security services here about the potential attacks on July 14th, the French National Day. They say they were concerned about that. They are concerned about an attack on just about any day here in France. The threat is unprecedented right now. They got through that European soccer tournament with just one attack in France. They're not directly on the soccer field, but two police officers by ISIS-inspired extremists. You will recall that attack and they broadcast it live on Facebook.

This is a big step back for security. I can tell you they are absolutely exhausted after a year and a half of intense efforts to try to protect this country. The police and army have been a maximum deployment on the streets. Nice, of course, was one of the cities which was hosting some of the big games in the Euro 2016 soccer tournament.

It was already on high alert. The painful reality here is that if it wasn't this promenade, it would have been any other promenade fireworks celebration across France. And the terrorist can search for vulnerability and decide what they're going to attack. It is an unlimited number of soft targets. We have to be careful about second guessing.

BERMAN: All right. Fair enough, Paul Cruickshank for us in Nice. We're going to talk to you in a bit.

Cedric Leighton, we'll check back in with you as well.

Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton responded to the terror attack in France. Hear their messages, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Overnight, President Obama condemned the terror attack that killed more than 84 people or at least 84 people we believe in Nice. He directed his administration to provide any help the French need to investigate the attack and bring those responsible to justice.

CNN's Suzanne Malveaux gives us the latest from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Alison.

President Obama was notified just moments after this attack in Nice by his national security team getting updates throughout the evening and early morning. The president releasing a statement, I want to read it in part for you, saying, on behalf of the American people, I condemn in the strongest terms what appears to be a horrific terrorist attack in Nice, France, which killed and wounded dozens of innocent civilians. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and other loved ones of those killed, and wish a full recovery for the many wounded.

The president also directing his national security team to offer any kind of assistance to French officials when it comes to the investigation into the terrorist attacks and vowing solidarity with the French people. Now, you might recall back in April that we saw President Obama with French President Francois Hollande here at the White House, vowing to work together to fight terrorism.

It was in the days following the Paris attack in November where President Obama said, "We are all French now", and that is when the two leaders vowed to take the fight against ISIS, that they would increase the air strikes in Syria and Iraq. That they would bolster intelligence sharing, as well as try to take away the funding of ISIS.

Now, U.S. officials are saying it is much too soon to say whether or not this is ISIS driven. But certainly, that's one of the questions that they'll be looking into in the days ahead -- John, Alison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: All right. Our thanks to Suzanne Malveaux.

And Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton responded to the attack overnight. Though there have been no claims of responsibility, Trump told FOX News he would seek a declaration of war against ISIS and would bar most immigration from what he called terrorist nations. Clinton, meantime, called for an intelligence surge, ramping up intelligence gathering against terror groups.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE (via telephone): I would not allow people to come in from terrorist nations. I would do extreme vetting. I would call it extreme vetting, too.

And, you know, our country has tremendous problems. We don't need anymore problems. Right now, we have more investigations of this kind going on than we ever had in the history of our country. And we're going to allow thousands and tens of thousands of more people coming in. And then you see a situation like in Nice, France, it's a horrible thing. And we better get awfully tough.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE (via telephone): I said when it comes to refugee, we should only let people into this country after we have thoroughly screened them, no matter how long that takes. So, we've got to be smart about this. Not get pushed or pulled into taking action that doesn't have the positive effects it needs to have.

So, I would be very focused on intelligence surge. I would be very focused on working with our partners and allies and intensify our efforts against the ideologue who pedal radical jihadism online.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Secretary of State John Kerry also weighed in on the attack, pledging U.S. support. In a statement, the secretary called the attack horrendous, nothing that Bastille Day in France celebrates liberty, equality and paternity. This morning, the secretary is in Moscow, meeting with his Russian counterpart, talking military cooperation in Syria. He met with President Vladimir Putin on Thursday.

[04:20:00] They're discussing a deal that would coordinate U.S. and Russian air strikes on ISIS and the Nusra Front, the al Qaeda affiliate in Syria.

KOSIK: The attack in France causing Donald Trump to postpone the announcement of who will be his 2016 running mate, but we have new clues on who the winner is. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: OK. We want to update you on our breaking news right now. At least 84 people are dead after a large truck plowed into a crowd, celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, France. The driver barreling more than a mile down the main promenade before police killed him in a shootout. Investigators are still trying to determine if the driver is the man on the I.D. card that was found inside the truck belonging to a 31-year-old French-Tunisian man.

[04:25:08] So far, no group has claimed responsibility, but president terror attack overnight and extended a state of emergency by another three months.

BERMAN: Today was supposed to be the day Donald Trump formally announced his running mate, but overnight, he tweeted the attack in France forced him to postpone the introduction. CNN has confirmed that Donald Trump has offered the job to Indiana Governor Mike Pence and that Pence has accepted.

But for whatever reason now, Trumps is being coy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I've got three people that are fantastic. I think Newt is a fantastic person. I think Chris Christie is a fantastic person, has been a friend of mine for 15 years. Just a fantastic person. And there's Mike. Mike has done a great job as governor of Indiana.

I have not made a final final decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: He says not a final final decision. At this point, we are waiting for, is for Trump to announce exactly when he will announce that final final decision. One potential issue is that Governor Pence must tell Indiana officials by noon today if he will run for re- election for governor, or he will stand as Trump's vice presidential candidate. Under state law, he can't do both.

KOSIK: Eighty-four people dead. Dozens more wounded after a terrorist attacks in France. A driver plowing down pedestrians in Nice, killed in a shootout with police. Did the gunman act alone? More details coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)