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Attempted Coup in Istanbul and Ankara; Terror in Nice, France. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired July 16, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:11] BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Thirty-two major stories right now. An attempted coup in turkey that may or may not be resolving in the government's favor. Turkish military forces taking the street demanding the government to back down but the people fight back.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Underneath we're learning more about the man behind yet another deadly attack in France. Where a truck plowed relentlessly through a crowd celebrating Bastille Day behind me killing 84 people. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Max Foster.

ANDERSON: And I'm Becky Anderson. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

ANDERSON: Oh, we begin in Turkey where it is morning right now after what has been a long and tumultuous night of violence and chaos. It is unclear right now who is in control of the country, the military or the government. But here is what we do know at this point. Friday night members of the Turkish military attempted to Seize control from the President Erdogan. There were explosions and gunfights in the streets of Istabul and Ankara.

Turkish media report 42 were killed in the capital. Witnesses, they heard fighter jets roaring through the sky. The (coup) unfolded and declined. Erdogan urged his supporters to take it to the streets and they did by the thousands. Climbing on tanks and waving Turkish flags. In just moments ago, President Erdogan spoke to supporters in a square in Istanbul. He promised his government would prevail. And he said the coup is over. The Government; he said, is in control. Well, the attempt was not just in the streets. We watched it unfold in television studios including CNN's own affiliates. Soldiers entered the studios of CNN Turkey, Istanbul and took staff members out. The network resumed broadcasting about 45 minutes later. And at Turkey TRT Networks, troops stormed in as well and pulled down the signals. Its anchor tweeted video of what was happening. CNN (INAUDIBLE) just spoke with the news director.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR.: We did manage to get everybody out of the building. Everybody seems to be okay. They pulled our signal down and we remain down. Although my Turkish counterparts in Ankara seem to have gotten their signal back up. But my English language channel hasn't managed to do so. But it was a -- it was quite a scary moment. My staff, well, their phones were confiscated so it was very hard to get in touch with people after the incident took place. Clearly a lot of people were shaken up.

ANDERSON: CNN's Senior International Director. Ivan Watson has covered Turkey extensively. Formerly CNN's Bureau Chief in Istanbul, joining us now live from Hong Kong. And Ivan, we just heard from the president, surrounded by his supporters, how do you assess what is going on in Turkey this hour?

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This has been an incredible night, a deadly night, tragically as well. Most recently we've seen the -- just mind boggling scenes at the Bosphorus Bridge, that suspension bridge, the first one of three across the strategic Bosphorus Strait which bisects Istanbul. Scenes of the soldiers who less than an hour ago were trying to maintain a blockade of that vital artery surrendering en Masse. Marching forward, placing their guns down. Their automatic weapons and marching away from their tanks which were abandoned on the bridge. And then we saw footage of clearly, Erdogan supporters running in. And in some cases, just picking up the machine guns that the soldiers have left behind on the bridge. That was one area where the coup soldiers had still been holding ground again less than an hour ago.

To give a sense of the potential loss of life during this tumultuous night, let's take a look at photos, I believe we have them, of buildings from the National Parliament in Ankara. Signs of massive damage of the Parliament building, windows gutted in what appear to have been some kind of either artillery strike or air strike against the National Parliament. Something I don't think we've heard about really, anything on this scale since World War I and the Turkish war of independence more than 80, 90 years ago. I guess we don't have the photos right now.

But more signs that there was some serious weaponry that was brought into play even as elements of the military were trying to take over briefly television stations and impose a curfew across the country, a curfew that was rejected by President Erdogan and his cabinet ministers when they were able to get their own messages out. Usually via Facetime on their photos to private Turkish Television Networks. And we have been, the last hour, we've seen Erdogan himself, addressing a crowd of supporters in Istanbul. Let's take a listen to what (INAUDIBLE) said, Becky.

OK. I apologize. We do not have that sound right now. But basically, he was saying in his address, that there would be justice that his supporters had taken back the tanks that had come out in the streets and he also issued a direct challenge to a former ally, a close former ally, an Islamic cleric and the leader of a multi-million dollar educational Islamic movement named Fethullah Gulen who lives in self imposed exile in Pennsylvania, directly accusing him basically in his movement of being behind this attempted coup attempt. Those are accusations that have been rejected throughout the night by representatives of the Gulen Movement. Long story short, Becky, this has been a very tumultuous and deadly night and a sign of the further instability that Turkey is facing once promoted as a model of democracy and stability to the broader Muslim world just a few years ago now facing multiple challenges. Terrorist attacks by ISIS, by the Kurdistan workers party, its tourism industry in tatters. A very polariz e electorate and now, an attempted coup against the elected president and his the government. Becky?

ANDERSON: Ivan, the government say this wasn't a coup, it was a full-scale terror campaign against people, the elected government and the army itself. I've also heard some talk that it was a fake coup. Your thoughts at this point?

WATSON: It says something to how polarized Turkey is. That initially as the statements were coming out from whatever military faction was behind this mutiny. One of the most popular -- frequent reactions that you saw in social media in Turkey was that this was all staged. An effort for the president to go ahead with plans to rearrange the constitution, to grant himself more powers. That goes to show how much skepticism and suspicion there are from certain segments of society towards Erdogan. He is -- without question he has dominated the Turkish political scene for 14 years since his party was selected. But he is either loved or loathed by broad sectors of society. On the one side -- it indicates another thing, the Turkish military which prior to Erdogan's party's election in 2002 staged at least four military coups during a period of 50 years.

It was largely believed to have been tamed by Erdogan. That was -- his supporters said, one of the big successes he'd had during his 14 years in office. In fact, the chief of the military last May attended the wedding of Erdogan's daughter. A sign of how cozy the relationship had gotten. Well, the scenes that we've seen unfold overnight where there have been fighter jets reportedly carrying out air strikes, helicopters --attack helicopters, opening fire with machine guns. Tanks on the streets of Istanbul and Ankara that suggests there were at least some segments of the military that were not in agreement with the Turkish Government.

And the Turkish leaders -- elected leaders have been quick to call this terrorism, to cal this treason. I would suggest that probably many of the rank and file soldiers, and this is a conscript army in Turkey, many of the rank and file soldiers who were probably ordered to occupy television networks and street corners, many of them didn't even know what they were doing at that time. Becky?

ANDERSON: Turkey and its officials now professing this to be over Ivan, but as you've been describing and witnesses have been describing in Istanbul, there will be low-flying jets. Booms that sounded like explosions, it seems. The fighting in Ankara, even more intense, 42 dead according to the prosecutor's office. This is a very frightening time for people. Is it clear at this point who is in charge?

WATSON: I think we've heard from a wide variety of members of President Erdogan's government, the prime minister, assertions that they are, in fact, in charge. We have seen images of soldiers either being arrested by police or simply handing over their Weapons to crowds of civilian Erdogan supporters. But we've heard from the Deputy Prime Minister himself within the last two hours a suggestion that there are still rogue aircraft in the air that the Turkish military are still trying to come to grips with. So I don't think we still yet know the full extent of how many rogue elements of the military are still out there. And then there's another big question. If somebody has gone out effectively against the government within the course of this historic and deadly night, and they've just learned that they are perhaps on the losing end of this and they're going to face treason charges, are they going to surrender peacefully?

What options are left for an army officer at this stage who may have not known or have just been carrying out orders? There are massive questions here. Massive questions about how the government will react in the days and weeks ahead as it seeks to consolidate control or regain control and do away with any other possible unloyal -- disloyal elements within the government.

Again, I mean, Turkey, just three weeks ago, Becky, we were reporting on a triple suicide bombing at Istanbul International Airport. And just three weeks later, there were army tanks at the entrance of that airport in an attempt to take control of it and they were overwhelmed by crowds of pro-Erdogan supporters who then rushed into the airport, passed the metal detectors and what could only be described as anarchy. And that gets to the heart of how unstable and chaotic Turkey has gotten even though the same leader has effective been in power for 14 years and has been consolidating power to the extent that critics have accused Irks accused Erdogan of trying to create one-man rule in the country.

Perhaps a bright spot here is that elements of civil society, elements of the media, even the opposition political parties have all come out and denounce this attempted coup. The three main opposition political parties who are in parliament which was apparently bombed overnight have all denounced this coup and stood by the government -- the elected government that they have frequently criticized and literally come to blows against in the halls of the parliament.

You had CNN Turk, our sister-network. Forced off the air at gunpoint by some of these soldiers then bravely coming back on air within hours of that unprecedented move. So we have seen signs of broad sectors of society clearly not showing support for this bizarre attempt to seize control by some elements of the military here. Becky?

ANDERSON: Ivan, your analysis is so Important at this point as we continue to assess the situation In Turkey, for the time being, Ivan. Thank you.

For the security Implications of what is a coup in Turkey and what the government may be doing behind the scene, so we're now joined via Skype by Bob Baer. He is our intelligence and security analyst and importantly, a former CIA operative. And with that hassle, as a former CIA operative, how do you assess what we are seeing unfolding as we speak in Istanbul this morning?

BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: Well, there's a couple things Becky, and one is the division in the army. There is clearly one. Senior officers that I've been in contact within directly. We're surprised by this. So, it's not the entire army. Clearly, they would have gotten Erdogan early on, captured him or assassinated him. But what's weird about this is that Erdogan hasn't gone to Ankara to take the reins of government. He is still in Istanbul so I think Ankara is still in contest at this point between these rogue military elements and the president. And I don't think we've seen the end of this.

And i frankly can't remember when the Turks were actually out in the street fighting. It hasn't happened in my time. There's also something else that I could point is, U.S. Government was clearly taken by surprise by this. And I know why, and, you know, the Turkish military just does not discuss internal affairs with our embassy or military (attaches) or the CIA. So we are very much in the dark how this is going to go. And we're just going to have to wait until we see it on the ground.

ANDERSON: Bob, I want to walk our viewers through some of what we've understood to be going on In these past few hours for those who are just joining us. It appears now a failed coup attempt in Turkey, we've just seen the president addressing certainly a huge crowd of his own supporters in Istanbul as Bob Riley points out, rather than in the capital. We are also going to get you some pictures shortly of extensive bombing to the parliament buildings that we've just received, pictures that we just received on the Parliament buildings in Ankara. Maybe -- perhaps a reason that he isn't there. Bob, let's walk our viewers through this. When we first heard from the President over his cell phone as he ran into one of the broadcasters in Turkey that was still on air, he said that he had just come back from his Holiday and the hotel that he'd been staying in, he says, was bombed after he left. Your thoughts?

BAER: I think they probably wanted to kill him. The military in Turkey is very upset when he was taking power from the military and imprisoning officers, accusing them of doing coups. So there's a lot of resentment in the officer corps and fear of Erdogan. And --but the question is, these coup plotters couldn't get to the senior staff. Otherwise they would have announced, you know -- the chief of staff would have come out and announce that there had been a government takeover. So the senior staff I think were -- at this point we can assume that they were out of the -- out of the loop on this. And this is what I call a Colonel's Coup. They are difficult to coordinate, difficult to carry out. They are not seamless like previous coups. The communications are difficult. But the point is, Erdogan by, you know, the fact that he had to communicate by cell phones, they had him cut off. Otherwise, he would have just gone to the government TV stations said, "There is no coup. It's over at the beginning."

And you know, it could be -- and, you know, I heard originally, this morning, that a lot of army officers thought this is some sort of fake coup on Erdogan's part because it was so half-hearted they just -- they couldn't believe it and only as the day progress or the night progressed, that they understand that it was a real coup. So, even the Turkish -- yes?

ANDERSON: Bob, I'll say, I think we should elude to some of what I think was some very powerful images we just brought into CNN. They were coming to us live of soldiers on the Bosphorus Bridge, which is the bridge over the Istanbul Straits which joins both east and west. Soldiers who had been in their tanks there, holding up their hands and walking away from their vehicles. difficult to suggest exactly what that was, but again, you know, when you saw those images, very powerful images it appears to have been a demonstration of support, Perhaps, for the government again.

BAER: You know, Becky, that's the way I interpret it. And my contacts in Turkey said this is not going to work, this coup, because there's no support in the rank and filed, the Turkish army, mostly (INAUDIBLE) and it wasn't -- it wasn't broadly supported and the coup is not broadly supported within the military is almost doomed to fail. You know, and I think there's going to be, as we've talked about, there's going to be some sort of, you know, move in Ankara to take the capital back. But that could turn very violent. I mean, if I were a Turkish military officer and about to be charged with treason, I would consider making some sort of stand. Becky?

ANDERSON: Bob,; with analysis for you this morning on what is a fast- moving story. I want to bring in, thank you Bob. Oz (INAUDIBLE) he is a journalist and joins us live from Istanbul now on the phone. Simply describe what you have heard and seen there over the past few hours. Sounds as if we are may be struggling to get our witness on here. Shall I try again?

Oz. Can you hear me? All right. We'll get you back to Istanbul of course and more on this story very shortly as we say, this is a very fast-moving story at this point out of Turkey. We're going to take a very short break at this point. Coming up --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello? Well, after -- after this break, Becky, the 84 victims of the terrible terror attack here in Nice France, are being mourned all over the world. We'll have details for you. Plus new details about the suspect behind that attack. We'll discuss with a terrorism expert the increasing challenges to security here in France and across the world.

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ANDERSON: All right. I'm Becky Anderson in Paris updating you on our top story here. The coup attempt in turkey. Officials say 42 people have been killed in the capital Ankara. A Turkey TV station says most of the dead are police. So, the military and government claim victory. it is unclear who is actually in charge but the president, president Erdogan addressed supporters within the past hour saying that he is. He also says the military factions involved would be treated the same as terrorists. Several people are already in custody. Witnesses tell us they heard several loud explosions also bombs were thrown at the parliament building.

Jared Malsin joins us from Istanbul via Skype. He's the Middle East Bureau Chief for "Time" magazine. So, what is your assessment of what is going on?

JARED MALSIN, WITNESS: Well, it's clear now that the attempted coup is -- has not been completely successful to say the least. it is faltering. But there is a great deal of uncertainty. As you mentioned we had President Erdogan addressing the country earlier, reasserting that he is in control, of course, moments ago, maybe half hour or 45 minutes ago I heard a gunfire so, there's ongoing gunfire and signs of violence ongoing here in the heart of Istanbul in the country's largest city, so.

ANDERSON: That's right. In Ankara, I just want to get some images for our viewers. You're in Istanbul in the capital, Ankara. We just received these images of the parliament building and significant damage to that building it seems and it's from there that we know from the prosecutor's office that some 42 people have been killed. The government saying that this was not a coup, this was a full-scale terror campaign against people, the elected government and the army itself. Now that's a narrative that would certainly suit the president should he want a full-on crackdown at this point, isn't it? And given the chaos in the country over the past months, should you or should we expect that full-on crackdown now?

MALSIN: it's entirely possible. As you said, the President Erdogan denounced this attempt to take control as an act of treason. And saying that this would give them -- he said this was a blessing, that he would give the opportunity to cleanse the military of these traitorous elements. So, that certainly sounds like foreshadowing or crackdown. And certainly if they -- if they do continue to prevail in this apparent struggle which they had blamed on one faction of the military. One -- they're saying -- they're claiming this was a one small faction. That's one of the big unanswered questions here, is what was the extent of the participation in the coup attempts. So should Erdogan and his government prevail, they are certainly -- they seem to be saying that they have ammunition for a crackdown.

ANDERSON: Fascinating. All right. Well, to those viewers who may be watching in turkey and to our viewers around the world we will continue to monitor what is a fast-moving story of a fluid situation in Turkey as we continue to broadcast from here. I'm in Paris. My colleague, Max Foster is in Nice. Max?

FOSRER: Becky, the 84 people killed in a terrible attack here in Nice, in France on Thursday are being mourned all over the world. The driver plowed a truck through crowds celebrating the French National Holiday. The Eiffel Tower lit up with the colors of the French flag. It is the third time that France had been significantly attacked in about a year a half. And the French president is requesting the state of emergency that was due to be lifted, to be extended for another three months. You see, the military out here on the streets. Francois Hollande said his country will overcome all trials.

And we're learning new details about the suspect behind that awful attack. We have to warn you that some of the video you're about to see is very disturbing. Our senior international correspondent Clairissa Ward has the very latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Mayhem and carnage as a large truck careens through crowds of tourists and residents for over a mile sending hundreds running for their lives. Tonight. The driver has been identified as 31-year-old Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a resident of Nice, born in Tunisia. The terrorist was known to authorities for petty crimes but wasn't on the radar of counterterrorism investigators.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was entirely unknown by the intelligence services. He had never been the subject of any kind file or indication of radicalization.

WARD: Authorities are combing through the suspect's house where he lived alone. A neighbor described him as odd. He wouldn't say hello, only nod his head. The attacker's ex-wife was taken into custody and is being questioned by the police. Together they had three children. Investigators are trying to figure out if the assailant acted alone or had help. And there have been no claims of responsibility for the attack by any groups so far. The horrific scene unfolded around 10:30 p.m. Thursday night. Thousands were gathered to watch fireworks celebrating French Independence Day. As the fireworks were ending and revelers began walking back along the promenade, the attacker first open fire on the crown from inside the rented 18-ton refrigerator truck. He then proceed to accelerate indiscriminately plowing through the crowds for over a mile swerving left and right to hit as many people as possible including dozens of children.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were people crying, people covered with blood. It is so sad.

WARD: When police tried to stop him, the attacker open fire.

TRANSLATOR: Police chased the truck for nearly a thousand feet. The police officer was able to neutralize the person.

WARD: When the truck finally came to a stop riddled with bullet holes, the attacker was dead slumped on the passenger seat. Inside the cab of the truck, police found a semiautomatic handgun and ammunition. As well as several fake guns and a fake grenade. Also the attacker's ID card and cell phone. Among the dead, two Americans, Sean Copeland and his son Brodie of Texas.

Tonight, President Obama is condemning the attack.

PRESIDENT BARRACK OBAMA: We pledged to stand with our French friends as we defend our nations against this scourge of terrorism and violence. And this is a threat to all of us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, that was Clarissa reporting. The investigation continues and we'll bring you the very latest on anything new that we have here. We'll also bring you the very latest on that very uncertain situation currently unfolding in turkey. Back in a moment.

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FOSTER: Welcome back to the 84 people killed in the terrible attack here in Nice, France on Thursday are being mourned all over the world. The driver plowing through crowds celebrating the French National Holiday. The Eiffel Tower lighting up in the colors of the French flag last night. We're going to discuss all of this now with Glen (ph)(INAUDIBLE) security and terrorism expert and the security management consultant who joins us via Skype from St. Louis in Missouri. Thank you so much for joining us. One of the things the authorities seem to be struggling with here is the assumption that the attacker must have been radicalized in some way to have done what he did and yet they don't seem to be finding any links to wider groups. So how do they continue with the investigation? What should they be looking at?

GLEN (ph): Well, they're looking at narrowing down, obviously, all of the different pathways in which they can analyze this person -- the person's movements and all of his communications over the last few days and weeks. And as they look at this today and more and more news is coming about the fact that they can't find any direct or apparent links, the horrible conclusion here is dawning that this is in essence, possibly the first, you might call it jihadi breivik-- where we have one individual who with one action has a disproportionately large impact with a major terrorist imprints in what looks like right now the actions of just one person. So we're sort of running to a new negative benchmark here in terrorism in modern Europe.

FOSTER: How can we call it terrorism, though, when we don't even think he was particularly religious? All his neighbors are saying he was never seen at the local mosque. So, why is he jihadi? Why is this terrorism?

GLEN (ph): Well, at the moment, of course, French authorities and not just the French -- I mean, U.S. authorities and other countries have already condemned this as an apparent terrorist incident. But they are looking at the context. When did this happen? On a national holiday? Where did it happen? In a public venue. What the target was? The apparent method by which this was carried out? Although we're not out of the woods yet on the question whether or not there might have been a mental disability or there might have been other factors here in terms of the person's motive, in general here, the working supposition is this is most likely a terrorist incident even if it does turn out to be the work of a lone wolf. But it's definitely a working proposition. And of course the French have found in the past, the Belgians by the way as well, that there have been actions by apparent lone wolves who later turned out to be attached to bigger networks or it has support of other people. And the concern here is that there might be other people who have supported this person -- and

might be poised (INAUDIBLE)

FOSTER: How, then do French authorities -- how, then do French authorities try to prevent something like this happening in future? This is completely unpredictable. There aren't any sort of paths leading up to these instances. So, if it is going to happen again, it's difficult to get intel on it, isn't it?

GLEN (ph): Absolutely. These are the hardest ones that there are in terms of prevention. If it is indeed a person himself radicalized who decided on the spur of the moment that somebody's pathways storage radicalization on individual has been extremely short, it's a major concern because it's people who live local, act local. Sometimes don't even purchase weapons or don't even go on the internet. Inother detection is exceptionally difficult. So what it does in this, it puts major need for the ability to react very fast when one of these incidents happens. And what that's doing at the moment in France as it is in other countries in Europe is essentially, it's overtaxing the police. It means they have to have more police forward deployed so if there is an incident such as this, they can spring into action right away on very, very short notice. And of course as we have seen again here, a few minutes can already be dreadfully long in these situations. So you're right. it's an exceptionally difficult type of situation to deal with.

FOSTER: OK Glen. Thank you very much, indeed. We're trying to analyze this, make sense of it. It was very difficult with the limited information that we've got. We've been speaking with a number of eyewitness (INAUDIBLE) was hiding in a car as the attack unfolded. She described the fear and the shock that she felt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were on our way to our hotel. We were a block from the promenade when all of a sudden people started racing all around us in front of our car, all around our car. We heard the gunshots. We were able to get down to the promenade a few minutes later but we were stuck for three hours in our car at the point where they were bringing all the ambulances and get -- taking people off of the ambulances and putting them -- assessing them and transporting them to where they needed to go. So we just saw one ambulance after another after another after another with stretchers coming out and out and out for three hours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: The authorities -- what the authorities, Becky here, are trying to do is try to open this up as quickly as possible in a sense of defiance really that this won't be closed down and completely disrupted in the summer season because of what happened here, Becky.

ANDERSON: All right, Max, thank you for that. I'm Becky Anderson in Paris for you. Updating you on our other top story, the coup attempt in Turkey. Officials say 42 people have been killed in the capital of Ankara. Turkish TV station says most of the dead are police both the military and the government at this point, claiming victory, it is unclear who is actually in charge but the president has (inaudible) president Mr. Endogan. the military factions involved would be treated the same as terrorists. Several people are already in custody. Witnesses tell us they heard several loud explosions also bombs thrown at the Parliament Building. The government says its already one but the fighting doesn' t seem appear to be slowing to her (INAUDIBLE) and (INAUDIBLE) not which I l keep -- justice developmental (INAUDIBLE) party taste of course, joining us now live on the line from Ankara. Who is in-charge. What are you hearing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you hear that?

ANDERSON: So, can you hear me? It's (INAUDIBLE) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) here in Istanbul Right. Thank you

for joining us on CNN. Who is the in-charge in Tukey. At present. All right. We're struggling with the lines, and perhaps understandably so. The government are calling if a terrorist operation, the situation very very fluid though. We're going to take a very short break at this point and see if we can reconnect with Istanbul coming back after this.

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ANDERSON: Right. The situation in turkey at this hour, very fluid after a night of chaos, the military coup, it seems, has failed. And we have heard in the past hour from the President who says the perpetrators will be treated in the same way as terrorists. Journalist Andrew Finkel has been reporting in from the country for decades. Joining me now on the line from Istanbul, how do you read the situation at present, Andrew?

ANDREW FINKEL, JOURNALIST: Well, it seems that the coup makers have really run out of steam. The wind has gone out of their sails. Last night they occupied the bridges, they called for a curfew they occupied some of the television stations. But they were basically outsmarted by the president who despite not having direct communication, used you know, an iPhone and gave an interview on Facetime where, you know, we're used to seeing him sitting on a golden throne and addressing his people but this was (INAUDIBLE) Mr. Erdogan addressing his people, calling them to go out on to the streets to ignore the curfew, to go to the airport and his supporters appeared to have done exactly that and that seems to have really confounded the coup makers. But, of course, it hasn't brought an end to the violence or the disturbances. Even if that was happening, the parliament in Ankara was being bombed, and we've just seen a communique from the coup committee saying that they haven't given up, their thing is going on and the people should stay home and not go out. Becky?

ANDERSON: The government saying that this wasn't a coup, suggesting that this was a full-scale terror campaign against the people, the president said this was against the people, against the elected government. He said this was against the army itself. And we've been discussing this out. That would be a narrative that would suit the president should he want a full-on crackdown. Now, given the chaos that has been Turkey over the past few months, what is your view on what happens next?

FINKEL: Well, I think the -- I mean, the semantics of this is really quite interesting because we have seen, for example an occupation of an Istanbul park a couple of years ago in which, you know, young people didn't want the park destroyed and they occupied the center of Istanbul And Mr. Erdogan called back a coup, the equivalent of a coup. He's labeled the activities of this clerk who lives in Pennsylvania (INAUDIBLE) he's -- he's described him as a coup maker and then the -- the pro-government press is full of, you know, the coup attempts by this -- by this religious leader and now, you have an actually coup and because he's not calling it a coup, he's calling a terror attack. But of course, it is a coup and it was n attempt by the military to, you know, with all the paraphernalia of a military takeover to take over the country. What is unusual on (INAUDIBLE) is that it's not been a successful coup or we know now that it's out completely but, you know, it doesn't look like it's going to succeed. And that will be the first time that the military hasn't -- you know, has put their shoulder to the wheel and then backed away. And so, what we think must be the case is that this didn't really have whole support of the entire military but was just, sort of, part of the military. But not just a few troublemaker since it was much more organized and detailed than that but not the whole chain of command which you really need in order to overthrow a government.

So you know, why did they do this? I think one of the reasons that they felt they were going to be ousted from power. There's -- next month, there's what they call the military high council which meets and which promotes and retires and basically changes the officers around. It was, sort of, it's a military musical chair. And I think many of these people thought that this was their last chance really to preserve their position within the army. That Mr. Erdogan was going to go after them. And I think, you know, he is certainly going to go after them now. So, yes, this is a man who's moved, you know, very successfully against his opponents, against the opposition.

He's disarmed the opposition press. He -- most of the press in Turkey supports the government, which is one reason why it's so difficult to figure out what exactly is going on. Because, you know, everyone says what you expect them to say. And there's not a real objective, description of what's happening in Turkey from the Turkish media itself.

He has disarmed the judiciary, now he has gone after judges. And now he is going after the last bastion, the military itself.

ANDERSON: Fascinating. All right. And Erdogan supporters there attacking military vehicles. We do know that sadly, 42 people appear to have lost their lives in Ankara. Andrew, according to the prosecutor's office, the parliament building there, some parts of it destroyed and not clear just how at this point but certainly not only a chaotic night but a deadly night in Turkey this night. All right. Andrew Finkel reporting for us from there. Thank you for your analysis. We will take a very short break. Very, very busy times here. We'll reset after this.

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FOSTER: Welcome back to Nice in France where they are trying to bring some normality back to the sea front here as they're trying to introduce cars back to the road here where the horrendous attack took place so recently. For more on the terrorism aspect, let's bring in CNN law enforcement analyst and former FBI agent, Steve Moore. We keep talking about terrorism but how do you define that in this case when we don't have any sort of terror links or organizational links so far? STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST; Wait. You're absolutely right, Max. Right now we are having to go on just the predominance of the evidence. There is going to be a motive here. And the only motive that seems to present itself is radical Islam because of the method of the attack, the ferociousness of the attack, this did not come with a suicide note, this is not somebody who presented with any time of mental illness that we're aware of right now. And if he has had suicidal ideations we haven't heard it from his wife yet.

FOSTER: But he doesn't seem to have been very religious we're told, by his neighbors. Never seen in the local mosque.

MOORE: That's true. And -- but I have seen these lone wolf attacks from people who are at the end of their rope. And at the end of their life, they decide that they are going to, you know, they're looking at -- they're looking at eternity and they're thinking, "I might as well go out with god on my side than not on my side." And so people who had never had any kind of religious fervor, at least apparent religious fervor will sometimes -- will sometimes grab some right at the end.

FOSTER: How, then, do the authorities try to explain that to the public, then? Because there's so much pressure on the authorities here that they're not doing enough to fight terrorism. There's been three attacks just inthe last year and a half. The opposition are making you a lot out of that as well. So, how do the anti-terror authorities here deal with that going forward when there is so little to grab hold of them in this case?

MOORE: It's going to be tough but probably is not going to be impossible. The -- these days the electronic communications that we have, the cell phones, the computers, the social media, those become essentially breadcrumbs for investigators and it is my strong guess that there is going to be -- pardon the expression, a smoking gun here. There is going to be information they are going to find which will show a shift. There's going to be either something coming into his computer or something going out of his computer. This going to be either communications from radical group. He's also - you're also going to have to try and follow the money.

FOSTER: I know. It's going to be interesting to see, isn't it? And old steel authorities are pouring over

What they can get their hands on right now. So thank you very much. Indeed.

Thank you for joining us from nice as well, I'm Max Foster here in Nice, France.

ANDERSON: And I'm Becky Anderson in Paris. But I've lot more of this breaking news coverage after-- what is this -- very short break. Stay with us. For a race like no other, you need a network like no other. Chritiane Amanpour, Kate Bolduan, Hola Gorani, CNN Special coverage at the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. Starts Monday.

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