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Man Plowed Pedestrians Killing 10 in Toronto; President Macron Visits Washington; South Korea Optimistic for Summit with North; Preparations for U.S./North Korea Summit being Hammered by Both Countries. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired April 24, 2018 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, HOST, CNN: Police in Toronto take down the man who plowed through pedestrians on the street, now the search for a motive.
Plus, the French president welcomed in Washington for the first state visit of Donald Trump's presidency. The pomp and circumstance and one testy issue on Emmanuel Macron's mind.
And the guessing game in Britain intense intrigue over the name of the brand new member of the royal family.
Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. And this CNN Newsroom.
A sunny spring day in Canada's biggest city turned into a nightmare. A man driving a white rental van appeared to deliberately target pedestrians in Toronto, plowing into dozens of people on a busy street. Ten people are dead, another 15 are wounded.
Police have the suspect in custody. Twenty five year-old Alek Minassian gave himself up after a brief but dramatic standoff with police. Now they are trying to figure out a motive.
Witnesses describe the horror.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was in the middle of the intersection and the van just went right into them and plowed into them. And then apparently he drove down further and he went on to the sidewalk on the next building and he hit more people there and just kept going.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are so many people just shouting stop the car but he didn't. He just keep moving and he hit some people and see people lie down there and they didn't move at all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see people's shoes lying near their corpse, it's a call, I mean, their shoes came off as they got hit by the van.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody, all these people on the streets getting hit one by one. Post office boxes getting crumbled up on people. And one person got dragged on and their blood is all over Yonge. It's really bad out there, man. I'm still shaking, I'm still dying from this I can't believe this is happening. This is like, unbelievable. This is so unbelievable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: CNN's Paula Newton is following developments from London, she joins us now live. Paula, the details simply horrifying. Authorities say it was a deliberate act but the motive is not known at this time. What more are you learning about the attack, and of course, the investigation?
PAULA NEWTON, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Well, the entire thing has been quite puzzling and for authorities as well, Rosemary. You just heard some of the chilling descriptions of what people had to contend with in that northern Toronto area.
You know, in terms of how deliberate this act was, we got inkling of that from the eyewitnesses. I know I was speaking to the people on the ground saying he had been driving erratically for some time and literally aiming for people with that vehicle as if they were targets. Again, that's what the eyewitnesses were saying, and certainly police and Canadian authorities seem to back that up.
Having said that, there is not a motive at this time, Rosemary, and that makes this entire incident all be more puzzling. I think in terms of trying to come together on what is truly a senseless act, most people just want to understand how someone was able to perpetrate that kind of carnage on the streets of an otherwise very safe and peaceful city. As we said, a beautiful spring day.
What is really unnerving, though, is that while this seems, the suspect seems to have been a quite college student, so far we don't know much about him or his background. We do expect the court appearance later this morning in Toronto.
I think many are wondering and this seem to go on for several minutes and that he could not be stopped and obviously did not himself come to his senses. It seemed as if he would've gone on for many more blocks had he been able to.
I want you to listen now to the mayor of Toronto talking about how the city now will come to -- will come to some kind of peace of what was just happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN TORY, MAYOR OF TORONTO, CANADA: This kind of tragic incident is not representative of how we live or who we are or anything to do with life in the city on a day-to-day basis. And that I hope people will reflect on that, we'll reaffirm that we'll go to work tomorrow and perhaps offers sometimes is the case in church is a sign of peace to each other just in some small way to acknowledge that we're going to carry on with heavy hearts, but that we're going to carry on with a life that is admired around the world. And we will do that in a way that Torontonians do things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: You know, Torontonians have seen these in other cities around the world, and mostly they have seen it perpetrated as a terrorist act.
[03:04:55] It was interesting here is, Rosemary, the threat level has not been elevated in Canada, the public safety minister has said that look, this is not seem to be connected in any way to the national security of the country.
And Rosemary, I have to say for those victims there, their families, the people who witnessed this who had to come to the aid very quickly, people that were lying incapacitated hit by a van in the middle of the road all the more really surprising that this happened and they want to know more about why.
CHURCH: Yes. They want some answers most definitely. And Paula, the policeman who arrested the suspect displayed remarkable restraint it has to be said to when the suspect tried to go him to shoot him, what's being said about that and about the way Toronto authorities responded to this attack.
NEWTON: Yes. It wasn't that incredible video, Rosemary, I mean, he's literally sitting there and he is saying pointing like this. The police officer could not have known. Is he pointing to say that he's got gunnery might have a gun, but apparently he may have even had his phone in his hand.
They're not sure but he kept gawking, he kept saying 'kill me,' 'kill me,' and finally as a police officer forcefully continue to tell him down, down, get down, get down, he eventually, as you can see from the video there. He does eventually get down. Police officer put a knee on his back and then handcuffed him.
I mean, this is obviously pretty text book police training at this point, and yet, many people I can tell you in town are wondering how he did show such restraint. The point is that you do want to keep the suspect alive so that you can learn more about, you know, if this was a terrorist act, you will want to learn so much more.
Certainly they haven't ruled out terrorism. But they want to know what motivated him to do this, and for that reason the police officer now will be instrumental in having kept him alive and now he will face the Canadian justice system beginning, Rosemary, late this morning.
CHURCH: Yes, and that policeman working without backup at that point just a remarkable police work on his part.
Paula Newton, many thanks to you joining us there live from London. I appreciate that.
Well, the French president has cultivated a close working relationship with Donald Trump and the outcome of his state visit to the U.S. will highlight whether his efforts are paying off.
Emmanuel Macron's trip began on a ceremonial note. The two presidents planted a tree from the French battlefield on the White House grounds Monday. They later have dinner at George Washington's home in Mount Vernon. They will turn to policy work in just a matter of hours. Mr. Macron will try to persuade Mr. Trump to shift on a number of issues with the Iran nuclear deal, topping the agenda.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE: During the state visits we will have the opportunity to discuss a lot of bilateral issues and to discuss about our security, about trade and a lot of multilateral issues very important for our countries and beyond our two countries.
This is a great honor and I think a very important state visits given the moment of our current environment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And CNN's Melissa Bell joins us now from Paris with the French perspective on this visit. So Melissa, it is remarkable how close these two leaders are considering how very different they are politically. Macron says they have a very special relationship and he is hoping of course to convince Mr. Trump to stick with the Iran nuclear deal. How likely is it that he will be able to do that and off Mr. Trump a face-saving way to do it since there is no plan B according to Mr. Macron.
MELISSA BELL, INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: That's right, Rosemary. This will be a real test of Emmanuel Macron's sort of outreach hand policy towards Donald Trump. And perhaps more importantly of this two very different ways we've seen the world that will come up against each other over the course of the next couple of days.
You heard the French president there speak just after he landed at Andrews Air Force Base. And what was so interesting about what he had to say, Rosemary, was that he spoke first in English, as you heard hi there, he then repeated precisely the same words in French but added, and to little sentence that he hadn't spoken in English saying, that we are, France and the United States, the guarantors of multilateralism.
Now here he is facing up to a man who is unashamedly unilateralist, who has said that on issues like Iran, trade, Syria, any international issues facing United States he put America first and he will not hesitate to ask unilaterally.
And so, here was Emmanuel Macron quite controversially, fairly confrontationally actually as he set off the plane saying in French although noted in English, we are the guarantors of multilateralism.
And it is his bashful (Ph) note that he can convince the American president to make some progress some compromise on some of the issues and therefore to bring him back into the fold of multilateralism, build -- bring him into what had been the consensus that bound the United States with its European allies over much of the last decades. [03:10:06] And that is going to be put to the test over the next few days. If Emmanuel Macron heads back to Paris entirely empty-handed on Wednesday it will show that he was wrong to see to believe that the American president could be made to badge.
And that is going to be really interesting to watch particularly because some of the very specific issues, Rosemary, that are on the table for this visit, I'm thinking of Iran, I'm thinking of trade tariffs. There is measurable progress can be made or not.
CHURCH: Indeed. And we understand that Mr. Macron studied very hard how to deal with Mr. Trump so we shall see the outcome of those discussions.
Melissa Bell joining us from Paris. Many thanks to you.
Well, this will be the first state dinner of the Trump presidency. A White House official says First Lady Melania Trump has been involved in planning the dinner for months. She chose the cream and gold color scheme. The menu will feature French American fusion dishes.
It appears Democratic leaders in Congress were left off the invitation list, but Louisiana's Democratic governor will attend.
Well, at this hour, former U.S. President George H.W. Bush is in intensive care at a hospital in Houston. A spokesman says the 93-year- old contracted an infection that spread to his blood that he's responding to treatment and appears to be recovering.
Mr. Bush was admitted on Sunday morning just one day after the funeral for his wife Barbara.
CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta says there's data that shows some people can become more susceptible to infection after a big personal loss. The Bushes were married for 73 years. Incredible.
Well, the final preparations are being hammered out for an historic summit on the Korean peninsula. We will look at an up close look at what's supposed to happen when North Korea's leader crosses the world's most contested border. Stay tune for that.
And Fox News host and conservative cheerleader Sean Hannity has never been a fan of government handouts except, apparently, when he's holding out his own hand. We'll have that story for you in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, the final details are being hashed out for Friday's historic summit between the leaders of North and South Korea.
On Monday, officials from both countries met on the North Korean side of the border truce village in Panmunjom. They discuss protocol, security, and press coverage of the event. Part of the summit will be broadcast live.
Meanwhile, U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis says North Korea's decision to suspend its nuclear and missile test is a step in the right direction ahead of possible talks with President Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[03:15:04] JAMES MATTIS, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Right now I think there is lot of reasons for optimism that the negotiations will be fruitful, and we'll see.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: We shall see. And bring in Ivan Watson, who is following the story from Seoul. Goo to see you, Ivan. So both North and South Korea have made efforts to reduce tensions ahead of this summit between the leaders of the two Koreas. And Kim Jong-un will walk across the demilitarized zone to the southern side of the border. All very significant and historic, of course. What all though might be achieved at the summit?
IVAN WATSON, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Well, that isn't entirely clear to us, and there may be discussions left behind closed doors. North and South Koreans have had loads of meetings to prepare for Friday summit. And they are going to be conducting rehearsals today, tomorrow and Thursday in preparation for that.
So they may be aiming for something and have a framework but they're not exactly publishing it right now. But of course, you know, the main issues are kind of reducing tensions and discussion of denuclearization. So those are questions of essentially disarmament that are coming up.
If you want to get a sense though of just how optimistic the South Korean government is how much they've embrace this diplomatic process. Take a listen to an excerpt from the South Korean foreign minister in a video that she published in English on social media this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KANG KYUNG-WHA, SOUTH KOREA'S FOREIGN MINISTER: President Moon Jae-in of the South will greet Kim Jong-un of the North for a daylong meeting in the south side of the truce village of Panmunjom. It will be the first time in the 70 years division of the peninsula for the top leader of the North to step foot south of the military demarcation line and it is only the third time in between the two sides, the first in 2000 and the second in 2007.
Furthermore, a first ever summit meeting between the United States and North Korea is also in the making. These are truly historic events that could bring about a lasting peace on the Korean peninsula which has been the ardent stream of the Korean people.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WATSON: You can't help, Rosemary, but speculate could one thing that perhaps Seoul want to try to push for is official piece here on the Korean peninsula, which really hasn't existed since the Korean War in 1953.
There was an armistice signed but the South Korean government at that time did not sign that document, so officially there is still a state of war here on the peninsula. And perhaps that's one thing that both sides could work towards. Rosemary?
CHURCH: Yes, indeed. U.S. President Trump has raised that issue, hasn't he? So this Korean summit will set the framework for the upcoming face-to-face meeting between Kim Jong-un and President Trump but a location hasn't been finalized yet, has it, and each side has a very different definition of what constitutes denuclearization. So how will they figure all this out before the May or June meeting whenever it might be held.
WATSON: Yes. I really don't know, and anybody who can, you know, pretend that they know what the North Koreans are thinking right now I would treat that with a grain of salt. It is possible that behind closed doors certainly when the U.S. CIA Director Mike Pompeo traveled secretly to Pyongyang at the beginning of this month. Perhaps some kind of framework for a deal was worked out.
That we don't know, it has not been publicized. Bt there's a but question here that I think a lot of kind of longtime career watchers are asking and that is, you know, denuclearization. It sounds like disarmament of nuclear weapons.
And that has been a project, a national project for North Korea for decades. They've been trying to develop their weapons and then trying to develop missile technology and willing to enforce sanctions and international isolation and spend what scant resources they have to accomplish this.
So I think one of the questions is what would it take to get North Korea to negotiate away something that it views as a national accomplishment. Its nuclear weapons and its ballistic missiles. Rosemary?
CHURCH: Yes. We'll be watching to see what is achieved on Friday and beyond of course. Ivan Watson, bringing us to date from Seoul in South Korea, where it is nearly 4.20 in the afternoon. We thank you so very much.
Well, leading up to the Korean summit, both sides gave up something, as we mentioned the, South stop broadcasting propaganda. The North says it's suspending nuclear and missile testing, but when it comes to the planned talks between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr. Trump says the U.S. has given up nothing.
[03:19:58] In fact, as Brian Todd reports, the U.S. is making demands.
BRIAN TODD, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: President Trump tonight could be preparing to take a very tough approach if and when he comes face-to- face with Kim Jong-un. Trump administration officials now say the goal of a summit with Kim is to get the North Korean dictator to start taking apart the nuclear arsenal that he spent years building up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARC SHORT, WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS: Our aim is full denuclearization.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what does that mean to this administration, what is full denuclearization--
(CROSSTALK)
SHORT: It means dismantling their nuclear arsenal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And no concessions and or benefits from the United States until that occur?
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Until full--
SHORT: I think that should be something that NSC states for you, major, but that is my understanding, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: The Wall Street Journal reports the president will ask Kim to act quickly to dismantle his nuclear weapons if and when they meet. At the same time, administration officials say tonight Kim's new promise to freeze his nuclear and missile test isn't enough to get the U.S. to lift economic sanctions on the regime.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH HUCKABEE-SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Certainly no sanctions lifted until we see concrete actions taken by North Korea to denuclearize.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: Experts say President Trump is likely trying to send a strong signal to Kim Jong-un ahead of a summit just what he expects.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCUS NOLAND, SENIOR FELLOW AND EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, PETERSON INSTITUTE: We're signaling that there is a high-level of distrust. We don't want to buy the same more as twice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: Analyst say Trump could be signaling that if Kim shows he's really sincere about taking apart the arsenal he already has, the U.S. could accept that being done in phases, and with each phase if it's verified that Kim has destroyed part of his arsenal the U.S. could ease sanctions and give Kim other economic benefits.
But experts warn Kim, his father and grandfather, have broken similar promises in the past.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NOLAND: The North Koreans agreed to quite a package of moving towards disarmament back in 2005, it didn't go anywhere. More recently, in 2012. We agreed to provide them economic assistance. They agreed to stop testing of long-range missiles and nuclear weapons and violated it within weeks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: And another warning from analyst tonight expecting Kim to destroy his entire arsenal may simply be unrealistic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAX BOOT, SENIOR FELLOW, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: That's essentially asking Kim Jong-un from his standpoint to commit suicide. I mean, why would he want to do that? He sees his nuclear weapons as being guarantee of regime survival and his personal survival.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: What analysts are concerned about now is some kind of a grand deal being struck between Trump and Kim Jong-un for Kim to dismantle his nuclear arsenal and for that deal to somehow break down. Then they fear the U.S. and North Korea are going to be back to a military posture for one another and the U.S. might again consider a preemptive military strike.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
CHURCH: A key figure in the U.S. negotiations with North Korea is Mike Pompeo who President Trump has nominated to become the top U.S. diplomat. Pompeo was at risk of becoming the first nominee for secretary of state ever to not be endorsed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
But that committee approved Pompeo's nomination on Monday after Republican Senator Rand Paul changed his mind to support the current CIA director.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAND PAUL, (R) UNITED STATES SENATOR: He's assured me that he's learned the lesson. Now time will tell if those assurances are true or not and I won't say that I can say with absolute certainty. I know what his opinions will be and how they will come out over time, but I do take him at his word that he does and has incorporated the idea that the Iraq war was a mistake.
But I do think that there the country understands that the Afghan war has gone on trade 10 years and they are ready for some other ideas. I hope that all of us the country really will rethink how many wars we need to be involved and whether they are constructive or destructive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: The full Senate is expected to debate Pompeo's nomination this week and Republicans are confident they had enough votes to confirm him for the job.
Well, Fox television host Sean Hannity has been harshly critical of government assistance programs for years, but now a report in the Guardian says he received help from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to secure multimillion dollar real estate deals.
Brynn Gingras has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN HANNITY, HOST, FOX NEWS: And welcome to the special edition of Hannity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRYNN GINGRAS, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Fox News host Sean Hannity has an extensive property portfolio and according to a new report for some of the real estate he used a program set up by the federal government to get it.
A detailed report released by the Guardian says Hannity spent the last decade buying homes in seven states spending at least $90 million. The homes range from mansions to low income housing and were reportedly all purchased under the names of shell companies concealing Hannity's ownership.
The report states dozens of these properties were bought at a discount in 2013 when homeowners were defaulting on their mortgages.
[03:25:00] A time when Hannity repeatedly criticized the Obama administration for hurting homeowners.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: And the dream of owning your own home has been made a nightmare under Obama for many Americans, the rate of those who own a home is now drop several percentage points. Now we also saw a record numbers of foreclosures during his presidency.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GINGRAS: Hannity bought few apartment complexes in rural Georgia for $22.7 million in 2014 says the Guardian. More than half of the money Hannity borrowed came with help from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which ensured the loans under President Obama's national housing act program.
Hannity loans that were recently increased by $5 million under HUD Secretary, Ben Carson.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: I mean, why did you give up being a brain surgeon, and I know you've done a good job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GINGRAS: A benefit Hannity never disclosed when having Carson on his show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, sir.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GINGRAS: The purchases come under scrutiny after Hannity was revealed as a client of Michael Cohen, President Trump's personal lawyer who is currently under federal investigation. Hannity said he sought advice from Cohen about real estate deals but it was a relationship he never revealed even during previous interviews with Cohen on his show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL COHEN, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S PERSONAL ATTORNEY: Sean, how are you?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GINGRAS: It's not known if these deals were ever discussed with Cohen. In response to the Guardian's report Hannity issued a statement saying, quote, "These are investments that I do not individually select, control, or know the details about except that obviously I believe in putting my money to work in communities that otherwise struggle to receive such support."
CHURCH: Well, when it comes to rental property HUD Secretary Ben Carson said he does have the authority to allow Hannity to turn on the rental properties into condos to sell next year. Now according to the Guardian's report that could make Hannity a lot of money. A point of disclosure, Hannity's real estate attorney Christopher Reeves is married to a CNN executive.
Well, in an effort to quell an immigration scandal Britain's interior minister announced that some Caribbean immigrants will be compensated for being wrongly labeled as illegal. After World War II, the government invited thousands of people to Britain to help rebuild. They were called the Windrush generation after the first ship that brought a number of them to England.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMBER RUDD, BRITISH HOME SECRETARY: First, I will wait for citizenship fee for anyone in the Windrush generation who wishes to apply for citizenship. This applies to those who have no current documentation and also to those who have it. Second, I will wait the requirement to carry out a knowledge of
language and life in the U.K. test. Third, the children of the Windrush generation who are in the U.K. most status are British citizens. However, whether it's not the case they need to apply for naturalization, I shall wait for fee.
Fourth, I will ensure that those who make their lives here but have now returned to their country of origin are able to come back to the U.K. In effect, this means, anyone from the Windrush generation who now wants to become a British citizen will be able to do so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: The government has apologized for stricter rules of recently required the Windrush immigrants and their descendents to provide proof of their lives in Britain or face possible deportation.
We'll take a short break here, but still to come, a Toronto man in police custody after plowing his van into pedestrians. What police are saying about a possible motive, that's next.
Plus, the shooting at a diner in Tennessee could have been a lot worse if it wasn't for this man. He wrestled the gun away from the shooter. We will hear his story from his own mouth.
We're back in a moment.
[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN NEWSROOM HOST: A very warm welcome back to CNN Newsroom. I'm Rosemary Church. I want to update you now on the main stories we had been following this hour. French President, Emmanuel Macron state visit will ship the policy talks in just a few hours. work on the will to see in a newsroom I was which you want to update you on the main stories whipping following present in manual Allstate visit will policy talks in just a few hours after day of mostly ceremonial events, Mr. Macron is expected to press President Trump on several key issues including remaining in the Iran nuclear deal.
Final preparations are underway for Friday's historic talks between North and South Korea, officials from both countries a meeting this week to hammer out details about protocol, security and press coverage. It is the first face-to-face summit between the two countries leaders since 2007.
Former U.S. president George H.W. Bush is in intensive care after contracting an infection that spread to his blood. A spokesman said the 93-year-old is responding to treatment and appears to be recovering. Mr. Bush was admitted to the hospital a day after the funeral of his wife, Barbara.
Well the driver is suspected to running down dozens of pedestrians in Toronto will be in court in just a few hours. Charges have not been announced yet for 25-year-old Alek Minassian. CNN's Alex Marquardt has more now from Toronto.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
ALEXANDER MARQUARDT, SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Federal and local authorities have provided an update saying that some 10 people have been killed in this attack with 15 wounded, several of them in critical and serious condition. The officials have also identified the alleged attacker saying he is a 25-year-old, male, from Richmond Hill, it was about half an hour outside Toronto.
They identify him as Alek Minassian in contrary to some earlier reporting and saying his name was not known, that it was not in the files. For now they're not calling this a terror attack, saying he is not a threat to national security, that there are no other attacks that they know of that are in the works and they are not raising the terror threat level.
They've also given a fuller picture of how this attack unfolded. It took just 26 minutes from start to finish, starting at 1:26 p.m., right here on Young's Street, when the busiest streets in the country was a beautiful day. People were out and about going to and from work to and from lunch when the attacker hopped up onto the curb in that white rider rental van driving down the sidewalk southbound, plowing into people.
Witnesses say that the driver was going some 40 to 50 miles an hour, calling to scene a nightmare and absolute pandemonium. At 1:52 p.m. the policeman has cornered the attacker, they got him out of the car. There was a dramatic stand-off in which the attacker appeared to be holding something in his hand, pointing to the police, claiming to have a gun, the police showing restraint did not fire their weapons. They said, they ordered him to get on the ground, which he did and he was handcuff and taken away without incident, take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SIREN)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUARDT: The big question now, what is the motive? So far there has been no claim of responsibility, no indications yet that this was terror inspired, but of course it does dredge up some horrific memories of very similar terror attacks in other major cities like Berlin, Barcelona and Nice and of course, New York last year on Halloween. Alex Marquardt, CNN, Toronto.
(END VIDEO)
CHURCH: So let's talk more about this with CNN senior law enforcement analyst and former FBI assistant director, Tom Fuentes. Thanks so much for joining us.
[03:35:04] TOM FUENTES, CNN'S SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST AND FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Thank you, Rosemary.
CHURCH: So Tom, authorities into Toronto are calling this a deliberate act, but they are not saying this is terrorism, not yet at least. Despite having the hallmarks of similar attacks in other parts of the world. Of course, Nice coming to mind the first and foremost why the reluctance to call this terrorism at this juncture and what do you think we're dealing with here?
FUENTES: Well, it appears like someone using the techniques, the terrorist abuse. So we had people using vehicles, getting -- you are on sidewalks or streets to run people over and that's been widely promoted by terrorist groups like ISIS before them, Al Qaeda and Arabian Peninsula that if you don't have a gun and you don't have knife, just take your car run people over.
So we heard about that technique being promoted, but it doesn't mean it's exclusive to only terrorist. So in this case the police are reluctant, because you they may not yet know that there was a motive based on nationality or religious belief or a political ideology and therefore that they could it might be just someone who's mentally ill or a psychopath that got behind the wheel of this small size truck, but it may be nothing more than that to someone wanting to kill other people or whatever. You know maybe for fun and not necessarily on behalf of a particular ideology.
CHURCH: Right. And Tom, I want to show you some video footage shared which I'm sure you've already seen of the suspect just before his arrest. Now he's holding his phone as if it were a gun in fact. Police clearly realize this and restrain themselves from shooting at him despite the suspect appearing to go to shoot him even calling out for them to shoot him, what is your reading of what is happening in this video.
FUENTES: Well, my reading is, as the police were showing extraordinary restraint now maybe the officer could actually see that it was a phone and not a gun. So it was more than restraint it would be proper procedure if he wasn't actually being threatened with a gun.
But the police in a situation like this want to know, is this person part of a larger group or a larger conspiracy, are there others out there that right that moment may be on their way to commit an attack just like this one and they want to verify that this is a loan mentally ill person as opposed to a larger conspiracy.
So in that case, they are not going to easily find that out, if they actually shoot the person and he dies. They are not going to be able to interrogate him and try to get to the bottom of his motives or his co-conspirators if there are any.
CHURCH: Yes, and as we saw, he was arrested there, he is now in custody, what would be the police doing right now as they try to establish the motive behind this deliberate act to what questions would you be asking?
FUENTES: Well, certainly they'll be trying to verify his identity nationality, friends, neighbors, relatives, classmates, coworkers, everybody that he associates with, as he have social media accounts, searching his phones, searching his computers, going to his residence, searching the residence, trying to determine if there's any other record from him that would indicate who he associated with and what his actual motives may have been.
And sometimes cases like this, if you are dealing with the mentally ill person, they may not even know themselves and just go do this and you don't even know if you're hearing the truth, if he confesses to why he did it. So that's something that they are going to try to verify and it can be very difficult to do it, but that's the first thing, are there any others out there right now that might be plotting an attack like this in Canada and the United States, anywhere that may have gone to a particular website or followers of a particular individual who is posting items on social media that not only this guy, but others may have access to or have followed and may commit similar actually they really want to try to nail down these alone, it's just him. Now that he is in custody, there's no further threat at the moment.
CHURCH: Yes. It just brings into focus the vulnerability of pedestrians in situations like this and with deliberate acts. Tom Fuentes, thank you so much for joining us, we appreciate it.
FUENTES: You're welcome.
CHURCH: And the suspect is now in custody, after a deadly shooting at a Waffle House restaurant in Tennessee. Travis Reinking was arrested near his apartment onto some 34 hours on the run. He is accused of killing four people on Sunday, he was known to police and appeared to be mentally unstable. The details now from our Randi Kaye.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
[03:40:04] RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This was the scene in Antioch, Tennessee. More than 30 hours into a manhunt. Police were zeroing in on the suspect after he reportedly killed four people at a Waffle House. Not far from the Waffle House, a construction worker told us here at this construction site, that he believes he saw the suspect walking right through the construction site. He called police, he said, he was able to give them an accurate description and sure enough, moments later, dozens of police cars came rushing through.
The construction site was next to the suspect's apartment complex, workers directed police to a path in the woods and they he gave chase. Deputy spotted him and took him into custody without incident.
CARLOS LARA, METRO NASHVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT: He did not try to run as soon as the detective saw him people, he pulled out is weapon and told to get on the ground and immediately from what I understand, he got on the ground, groaned out. Other office -- other detective went help cuff him, search him, they found his -- in his back pocket his I.D. and in they cut off his backpack and found the weapon in there.
KAYE: The man is accused of opening fire at the Waffle House just down the road from where he was caught early Sunday morning, wearing only a green jacket and nothing else. After a customer wrestled his gun away from him, the shooter fled on foot. Police believe the suspect walked south from the Waffle House down this road and then turn in here to his apartment complex where they say he picked up a pair of pants. Investigators found the green jacket even wearing at the shooting not far from the Waffle House.
DON AARON, PUBLIC AFFAIRS MANAGER, NASHVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT: We recovered that green jacket, there were two magazines containing AR-15 ammunition, he clearly came on with a lot of firepower.
KAYE: Police searched the suspect's apartment and discovered his handgun was missing, so the fear was, he could shoot again while on the run. Authorities cast a wide net canvassing neighborhoods and going door-to-door.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If Reinking is still in the woods, he has been there now for more than 24 hours and at some point he is going to have to -- try to come out for food or water.
KAYE: And perhaps that's just what he was doing when the construction worker we spoke with spotted him. Police believe the suspect is dangerously unstable and has been delusional. Back in 2017 he was arrested outside the White House after crossing a security barrier and demanding to speak to the president.
In another instance he insisted that popstar Taylor Swift was stalking him, after the White House incident the FBI interviewed him in Illinois where he was living and revoked his gun license. They seized four weapons from him including police say the AR-15 rifle used in the Waffle House shooting.
AARON: The guns were returned by Tazewell County authorities to Reinking's father who is now acknowledged giving them back to his son.
KAYE: Police say the shooter moved to Nashville last fall. He worked in construction until being fired three weeks ago. He started a new job, Monday, just days before the shooting, but never went back to work. Randi Kaye, CNN, Antioch, Tennessee.
(END VIDEO)
CHURCH: And it was a brave customer in that diner who stopped the shooting before more lives were taken. James Shaw Jr. was able to get the weapon away from the gunman and he spoke to our Anderson Cooper.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES SHAW JR., TACKLED GUNMAN: When he started shooting, actually jump towards the bathroom area and I went -- I was actually looking at him and in a way he actually shot towards the bathroom area. And I was actually grace with the bullet in my upper right elbow, after that I think you had to reload and I saw an opportunity to kind a take advantage of him. So I ran to the door as fast as I could and I hit him with the door and I kind of made him a little woozy (ph) and then he kind of let go of the gun and then we were tussling for the gun, kind of wrestle for it. And he had it on one hand and then that is when I got took it from him.
ANDERSON COOPER, BREAKING NEWS SHOW HOST: People think about how they would react in a situation like this, but nobody knows until it actually happens, I mean, what was going through your mind when you made the decision, OK, looks like he's reloading, I am going to do something.
SHAW JR.: The only example I can give it to use if you ever almost drowned and you are gasping for that air, that last bit of air or worth that you think you are going to get, it take -- it seems like he is going to take that long, so in that second, I saw the barrel pointed down on the ground, it seemed like it was forever, I know I say it happen on a split second which it did, but it seems like it was forever and in that time I was like, I have to go now, so I said, you are just going to work for this cue. And it luckily work out in my favor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[03:45:00] CHURCH: Remarkable quick thinking on his part and just hours after the shooting. Shaw went to church and says he prayed for the victims. He doesn't want to be considered a hero and says he was just trying to live, but he was most definitely hero in that incident.
Well, Russian journalist death prompts disturbing questions from those who knew him coming out we will get the details of Maxim Borodin's death and why his former coworkers are not sure with the accident. We are back to that in just a moment.
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CHURCH: Massive protest in Armenia have become celebrations after the Prime Minister accused of a power grab resigned unexpectedly. Serzh Sarksyan, was appointed Prime Minister early this month after serving two terms as president. He says, he is getting into the demands of protesters who want him out. The main opposition leader says, this is just the start of Armenia's peaceful velvet revolution.
With the death of a Russian journalist has spark questions about whether the last story he was working on, played a part in his death. Nic Robertson, went to the scene of Maxim Borodin's death and brings us the details.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
NIC ROBERTSON, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CNN CORRESPONDENT: A thousand miles of North East of Moscow, Ekaterinburg. Still semi-slum in its Soviet past. Among so many other drive humdrum apartments of that era, this balcony, it seems unremarkable, yet it is not.
In the early hours of April 12 this year, a young up-and-coming investigative reporter, tip over the balcony and fell. His neighbors found his body here trampled in the street. His death is a mystery.
In life, Maxim Borodin, on the right excelled at fun. He worked his intrepid investigative street. (Inaudible) a clave of enemies. She wanted an interview about (inaudible), he said earning him a bang on the head by a thug, wielding a metal bar.
But it was his recent reporting on Russian mercenaries fighting in Syria that really got him national attention. Police say they don't see foul play, but the night before his fall, he called a friend telling him his apartment was surrounded by security officials, wearing camouflage, asking him to call a lawyer, shortly after telling the friend who posted the details to Facebook, it was a false alarm. None of his neighbors here want to talk about what happened and it's impossible to know precisely what took place that night.
[03:50:05] But there is big dent on the dirt, present twigs on the tree next to it, mud splattered on the wall, directly below his balcony. At the news agency, Noviy Den, New Day, where Borodin worked, he's colleagues is still struggling to (inaudible) their lost.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (TRANSLATOR): He was a great journalist, his investigations, his stories, his interviews always made a big splash among the audience.
ROBERTSON: Another of Borodin's friends who despite his own difficulties wants to understand Borodin had so much to live for not the suicidal type. A spokesman for the (inaudible) Interior Ministry tells Borodin's apartment was locked from the inside, a fact he says that indicate no one left the apartment. Most likely he says there were no strangers in there.
The closer you look here, the last of fact seem to add up. And the harder it seems to grasp the truth. At New Day, strange things had been happening. They say their internet traffic from search engines has nose dive in the past few days.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (TRANSLATOR): According to our sources this is obviously not verified, but they're saying that it was a targeted action on someone's order.
ROBERTSON: Of old bulletins reporting the most sensitive story about Russian mercenaries in Syria goes right to the top. They work for a company called Vagna, link to Oligarch (inaudible) who denies any ties. He is a target of U.S. sanctions and a close friend of President Putin, but cautions Borodin's boss, his death may just be a tragic accident.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (TRANSLATOR): This is a journalist's job, to uncover things that others would like to hide, but that doesn't mean he had enemies who wanted to kill him.
ROBERTSON: It feels not for the first time, but chill is floating across Russia's reporters. Nic Robertson, CNN, Ekaterinburg, Russia.
(END VIDEO)
CHURCH: And will take a short break here, but still to come, he weighed in at 8 pounds and 7 ounces and while nameless, he is already charming the public. Meet the newest member of Britain's royal family, after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge had welcome their second son, Monday and it's causing quite a stir. No word yet on what the new Prince will be called. But the bookmakers have their favorites of course and I'm sure the name Max, Mike is has to vote form our own Max Foster, who joins us now from London with the very latest. Good to see you Max, so what are the bookies saying about a likely name for this gorgeous new baby prince and what is their track record for picking the right name?
MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, pretty bad generally. And it is all but we got to go on, because they are not telling us a thing. And they are keeping quite last time, Charlotte, it was a few days until we actually found out what her name is going to be, although Charlotte was somewhere in the best scene. This are all its favorites, of course each companies had complete different names as well. They chose Denise, and after, the number one, James, number two.
[03:55:00] Philip number three, which I think is the most slightly actually if you consider great grandfather, Albert and Fred. When I think Fred, Fredericks, very likely, particularly German name, but nothing wrong with that, I just think it is less likely be name for German name of which name. But we are just speculating here Rosemary. I mean it could literally be -- it could even be Max.
CHURCH: It could be, Maximillion, so what are your context telling you Max. What do you think the winning name might be ongoing for James?
FOSTER: I am going for Philip and for no reason of it, Prince Philip, -- I know that Harry is close to Philip, they also have a choice of having multiple names of several royal families, so they could four or five and have all of the favorites in -- but you need to look at the Middleton side as well and they got various names there. So they at least bring them all together.
There is less pressure on the number three, because he is very unlikely to become king, they have to think of it in most terms. And also it does need to go with the word prince or prince something, so, yes I think Prince Max works pretty well.
CHURCH: I think it does. And not Prince Fred. So of course, when we saw them coming out, there are just the two of them and of course she was wearing a dress very similar to Dianna's dress, wasn't she? Was that -- that they mean to do and at the same time to no sign of the Queen anywhere there?
FOSTER: No, so last time was Charlotte, the Queen came to visit here in Kensington Palace, a couple of days later that is actually after the name came out. So that is where we are already expecting to stay some visitors, Prince Charles, and Camilla perhaps. And perhaps the Queen, if she is around, I think once they met Charles Camilla and the name could possibly release. It could be today, it could be tomorrow, it could be later on the week.
The deal really where the media was that you know, they have that big man outside the hospital, was none of them feel comfortable with, particularly the younger ones of course. The deal is that, you know, once you have that moment then they could retire to the palace here and there won't be any more pressure on the get to know each other as a family of five. Which obviously a big change from having just two as big step.
CHURCH: It is remarkable, it seems like just yesterday, I remember Williams as a baby himself so, it is quite shocking. Max Foster, thank you so much, we appreciated it. And thanks for your company this hour, I'm rosemary Church. Remember to connect with me anytime Twitter. The news continues next week. Paula Newton in London, you are watching CNN the world news leader, have a great day.
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