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New Zealand Mosque Attacks Suspect Appears in Court; Suspected Shooter Purportedly Posted Anti-Muslim Manifesto; Facebook Alerted to Suspected Shooter's Live Stream by Police. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired March 16, 2019 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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IVAN WATSON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN breaking news coverage of the deadly terror attack on mosques here in Christchurch, New Zealand. I'm Ivan Watson.
NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): I'm Natalie Allen in Atlanta, thank you for joining us this hour.
The terror attack in New Zealand has shocked a nation has led to a outpouring of support around the world. Here is the latest we have for you. At least 49 people were killed, dozens wounded in attacks on two mosques Friday in Christchurch, New Zealand.
The suspect livestreaming the assault on Facebook and leaving behind a lengthy hate filled manifesto; 36 minutes after the first call of shots fired went to police that suspect, as you can see in the video, was taken into custody, apprehended there on the sidewalk. He resisted arrest and had explosives in his vehicle.
Saturday, he made his first court appearance and was publicly named; 28-year-old Brenton Tarrant, an Australian citizen, stood silently and smirked silently as he was charged with one count of murder. Police say they will be more charges. He remains in custody until next court appearance in April.
The prime minister Jacinda Ardern said the suspect had a gun license and she is already vowing reform.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACINDA ARDERN, NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER: I can tell you one thing right now, our gun laws will change. There have been attempts to change our laws in 2005, 2012 and after an inquiry in 2017. Now is the time for change.
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ALLEN: For more now let's go back to Christchurch and Ivan Watson.
WATSON: Thank you, Natalie, I'm in front of Christchurch Hospital, where emergency workers, medical staff, were dealing with dozens of victims from the mosques here in Christchurch in the wake of the shootings that took place during Friday prayers in those two mosques on Friday.
We have learned from the foreign ministry of Jordan in the last hour that one of the victims has passed away, bringing the number of Jordanians citizens killed as a result of the attacks to three now.
The New Zealand government has said that they are also working with the governments of Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan to help with repatriation of their victims as a result of what's been described as the deadliest massacre in New Zealand's history.
We have spoken with some of the people who are gathering, there are small numbers of people in front of the hospital here and some of them told us that they traveled from New Zealand's northern island to come down here to Christchurch, to the southern island, as a show of solidarity for victims of this attack.
We are seeing signs of that in the New Zealand media and across the park where I'm standing, where row of flowers have been rested some 50 meters long in the wake of this attacked that has so traumatized this country.
Now to learn more about this, I'm going to turn to the foreign news editor for Radio New Zealand, that's Graeme Acton, now joining us on the line.
Thank you for joining us. I'm going to ask you, as a New Zealander and a journalist, your thoughts now it's been more than 24 hours since these acts of violence occurred.
Your reaction?
GRAEME ACTON, RADIO NEW ZEALAND: I think, as have you seen, the country is in shock. Nothing like this has ever happened in the country before. Today, as you say, in Christchurch, there are walls of flowers appearing. That is occurring all around the country, vigils, floral tributes, all sorts of things, flowers being brought to mosques in all the major cities. And just a general outpouring of grief and compassion by ordinary New Zealanders across the board.
WATSON: Graeme, unfortunately, my home country, the United States, is quite familiar with deadly mass acts of violence, gun shootings. But New Zealand, as some of the folks have said, that something that doesn't happen here, that happens oceans away from us. And a narrative is starting to emerge --
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WATSON: -- here, suggested by the mayor of Christchurch, that maybe the suspected terrorist here was trying to take advantage of that as a vulnerability to carry out this act of terror.
What do you think?
ACTON: That's quite right. The prime minister said yesterday that Christchurch was chosen not because it's a hotbed of fanaticism at the bottom of the world, it because we are an open society and we have an inclusive attitude toward outsiders coming in and a refugee program.
We are trying to be inclusive and help these people that have worse situations than we do here in New Zealand and wanting to bring them into the country, assimilate them into society and let them have a bit of life.
That was, I think, part of the model or scenario that this person who perpetrated this act wanted to break and put a spike into really, make New Zealanders feel that they are in some sort of danger from the Islamic community, the Muslim community of the country.
But what is actually done and what we have seen today in New Zealand is actually done the opposite. What you have is communities all over the country coming together, Muslim and non Muslim, all of the people that live in this country, right across the world, all the communities, including the American community, coming together in an expression of compassion and reaching out to the Muslim community and saying that you are us, you are one of us, we are here for you.
So it has done exactly the opposite to what I think was intended by the gunman.
WATSON: And, Graeme, as you're speaking, we're seeing some live images of those floral displays that people have been putting together. A very improvised response to these deadly acts of terror.
Can I ask, the main suspect, a 28-year-old Australian, who appeared in court today, Brenton Tarrant, has been linked to a long, rambling manifesto that espouses quite nationalistic, extremist ideologies.
Is there a movement here in New Zealand that could have supported -- that there could have been some accomplices to this, since at least two other individuals have also been and arrested by the authorities and are being investigated in connection with the attack?
ACTON: Quite possibly, Ivan. It's certainly not a widespread ideology, it's not something that you see on the streets very often, although I think every Western country has a hard Right element to it in some ways.
But New Zealand is such a threshold part of the society, that it hasn't really registered. And that's part of the problem, I think. You have one man with a gun that can create all this carnage. But once again, it is a needle in a haystack in New Zealand, where we find, as we heard from the police earlier today, this man was on anyone's radar.
Radio New Zealand cover stories in your country and elsewhere in the world, where mass shootings are occurring. And so often you hear the authorities say, this man was not on our radar.
But it has happened here again and I think possibly there's going to be a change in this country as to what kind of radar system we are using in the future because we are not willing as a society to put up with this.
WATSON: Graeme Acton, foreign news editor for Radio New Zealand, thank you for speaking with me.
We are hearing more from the eyewitnesses of the attacks, which were carried out in broad daylight and quite chillingly broadcast live on social media. Let's listen to one eyewitness.
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ROSS MCGUINESS, EYEWITNESS: He discharged two rounds and I came out to see with the noise was about. And he was just parked by that side here, 10-12 feet away. We were looking at each other while he was -- looked like he was reloading his rifle. He was geared up as far as -- like a SWAT guy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you saw...?
MCGUINESS: We stared at each other.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You stared at each other?
MCGUINESS: While he was reloading his rifle, he was the driver -- look like a Suburban (ph) wagon and he was reloading, putting in another magazine, and we were just looking at each other.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you saw him, you said, in SWAT gear or what you call -- ?
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MCGUINESS: He had fully helmeted, looked like a vest on. He was prepared. I thought he was that police because he discharged two rounds --
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MCGUINESS: -- there was no one dead here. And I thought, this is unusual. And then he drove forward because he was stopped here while he reloaded. Then he drove forward and he shot out the back window of that car and I said, hold on, this is getting really weird.
So I rushed down to see whether he had shot anybody. And I couldn't get his number, so I kept following him and then I got his registration plate number. Then he put another round into Argo Park (ph), into the motel there. And I'm thinking, this is getting really weird.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: Some pretty chilling details there. I might add that the New Zealand police have issued a statement, calling on the public, anyone who has information or similar accounts, to share that information on Friday's terror attacks with the authorities here.
Now to dig in a little bit deeper into this, I'm going to speak with Glenn Schoen. He is a security expert and a terrorism expert coming to us live from The Hague.
Thank you for joining, Glenn.
I wonder, have you had a chance to take a look at the manifesto that has been linked to this first key suspect, has been identified as Brenton Tarrant, and what are your thoughts?
Does this fit in with a larger pattern that is global, with a larger movement or ideology?
GLENN SCHOEN, SECURITY AND TERRORISM EXPERT: Yes, that is the short answer here. When you look at the piece of writing, it reflects a number of these kinds of documents that we've seen far right-wing extremists use to justify their activities.
Every once in a while you see these documents, not just in the context of a particular terrorist attack like this but you also see them issued from time to time either in book form or as a loose manifesto by very small groups or thought leaders in the extreme right-wing movement.
And we've seen, going back to the days of the mid-1990s, in the United States, we saw a lot of militias generate smaller, even more extreme groups engaged in terrorist activity; of course, Oklahoma City being the worst there.
Two smaller groups later in Germany, two the high-water mark of Anders Breivik in Norway in 2011, two more recently. Not all of these perpetrators are coming from this political background do a lot of writing. Some of them act on a very short timeline and are not too interested in being ideologically savvy or elaborate.
But we see in a number of these people who think about this longer term who plan for their bigger actions longer term and don't do something along the lines of a shooting at a synagogue or a mosque on something on a near-term basis but look at in a broader context.
They feel a compelling need to be part of a movement, to try to sustain that movement and to try to explain their own actions.
WATSON: Glenn, the New Zealand prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, was quite swift to condemn this as an act of terror.
Given what you've read, how would you characterize this?
Is this far-right terrorism?
It is white nationalist terror?
What term would you use?
SCHOEN: I would describe it as far right-wing terrorism. When we look at the entire spectrum, as scholars, academics, police leaders do, you have the far right, far left, a lot of the caveats (ph) generally are extreme nationalists and extreme religious inspired. And whether that is jihadi or people who pretend to be with an army of
God and act against abortion clinics, it's an entire spectrum from left to right.
And this I think clearly fits in that right-wing element. We've seen a lot of terminology thrown around in terms of, what's the exact label of the movement?
What's the exact label at the moment where somebody becomes what we know in terms of the law in most nations, legal definition consider a terrorist?
But I think we can clearly simply stamp this as far right-wing terrorism, call it extremist right-wing terrorism, it's that corner, it's that box. And it fits the formula that we see on the far right is these types of acts, often are perpetrated by people acting alone with only one or two people assisting them or in a very small cell.
So if we compare that to left wing terrorism or jihadi terrorism, we see a different pattern here, where these people really worked very hard to keep their activity secret, keep it very small, very tight and it makes it very hard for law enforcement to get ahead of this particular terrorist threat.
WATSON: Glenn, the authorities --
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WATSON: -- have identified Brenton Tarrant, this 28 year old Australian as the suspect, who appeared with in court and was charged with murder. There are two other individuals that were also arrested and are being investigated.
Based on what you've seen and read thus far, could this be a lone wolf type attack or do you think there may have been accomplices?
SCHOEN: It could go either way, time will tell. We've seen in some of these cases that we've had actors that have had accomplices, either as a direct facilitator or someone who has really helped them for a longer period of time, ideological grooming, ideological support, money and so forth.
And what we have to figure out is are these people just at the last moment, in a form of request, lent assistance, for instance, I'm going target shooting, lend me your rifle; hey, I need to borrow your car for the weekend and will you upload this little thing to the Internet for me, sort of position from a position of not knowing what is coming.
Or are these people who really deliberately went along with this person?
We've seen both models over time but one thing that is interesting to note here -- and this will be something important for law enforcement going forward and for community leaders -- most terrorists plotting the preparation of these plans, we see a form of leakage, as we see with so-called school shooters.
So there is some indication on the side the perpetrator towards other people, this is what I'm planning on doing. I'm working on some kind of attack plan here. So hopefully this case too we will learn, was there a moment that we could have picked up signals and not so much for recrimination and looking back at what we did wrong or what went wrong in New Zealand but more can we learn from this toward the future to help us, what kind of signals do these people give off and how can we prevent more of these attacks in the future.
WATSON: All right, Glenn Schoen, security and terror analyst in The Hague, thank you very much for sharing your insight.
I'm reporting and broadcasting from in front of Christchurch Hospital, where as of this morning, at least 11 victims were in the intensive care ward, fighting for their lives and many more also wounded and being treated right now -- back to you, Natalie, at CNN Center all.
ALLEN: Ivan, yes, it's important that to remember that there are people gravely injured right now. We appreciate your interviews and your reporting. We will see you in just a little bit.
When news of the Christchurch shooting spread around the world, the tributes poured in. We will show you how countries around the world are paying their respects. That is next.
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ALLEN: After the act of hate, showing you the acts of love and support there we're seeing. Here is what we know from the story from New Zealand.
The suspected gunman who massacred dozens of people at two mosques appeared before a judge in Christchurch Saturday. The 28-year-old man from Australia said nothing. So far he faces a single count of murder but police say, of course, more charges will be coming. His next court appearance April 5th.
Two other suspects are also in custody but their roles are not clear; 49 people died in the attacks, 39 others are still in the hospital as we learned from our Ivan Watson, 11 of them are in intensive care.
We now have information on one of the victims. Haji Daoud Nabi was born in Afghanistan and moved to Christchurch in 1997 as an asylum seeker. He was apparently running about 10 minutes late for the service and the attack was going on when he arrived at the mosque.
Words of support are pouring into New Zealand from around the world and just next door in Sydney, Australia, hundreds gathered at this mosque for a prayer vigil honoring victims.
Australia's prime minister, meantime, called for flags to be flown at half-staff out of respect for victims. Scott Morrison says there is no place in either country for hatred or intolerance.
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SCOTT MORRISON, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: I particularly want to convey my heartfelt sympathies not only to all the New Zealand people, as I'm sure all Australians will join me in doing, but I particularly want to express my sincere prayers and thoughts for those New Zealanders and indeed Australians of Islamic faith today, who have been the subject of this vicious and callous right-wing extremist attack.
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ALLEN: In London, the turmoil of Brexit was pushed aside to remember the victims of the mosque attacks.
Members of Parliament stood quietly in the House of Commons to pay their respects to the victims. Speaker John Bercow condemned the violence, saying evil would not prevail. Britain's prime minister said Britons share the grief New Zealanders are now feeling.
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THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Through terror attacks that have taken place on U.K. soil, we know only too well the pain that such horrifying attacks can cause. As New Zealand has stood by us, so we stand shoulder to shoulder with them and with Muslims in New Zealand, here in the U.K. and around the world.
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ALLEN: Let's go back to Ivan Watson in Christchurch New Zealand.
And hopefully, the people there are feeling the embrace of the world as they go through this terrible tragedy.
WATSON: Absolutely. International -- an international outpouring and certainly here in New Zealand a domestic one as well. We've spoke with supporters who have come to this hospital in solidarity from other parts of the country and across Hagley Park, where I'm standing, there has been an improvised floral tribute that has been arranged, dozens of meters long, around the fence there, as people are just showing their support for the victims of this deadly terror attack.
Now according to the prime minister of New Zealand, she says that her government is working with government such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Jordan to help bring some of the victims back to their homeland.
It give a sense of how many people across the world were affected by these terror attacks. One of those countries was also Turkey and it is from Istanbul that I am now joined by CNN international correspondent Arwa Damon, where I understand the Turkish president has been quite vehement his condemnation of these acts of terror.
What more can you tell me, Arwa? ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Ivan, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was very forceful --
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DAMON: -- blaming this horrendous act of violence on rising Islamophobia and especially to a certain degree calling out the leaders of Western countries when it comes to trying to prevent this kind of hatred, from leading to this inexplicable death.
And you get the sense that not just in Turkey but across the region that there is this widespread sentiment, whether it's people you talk to on the street or the various leaders of the Arab and Muslim countries, that this is a direct result of the rising rhetoric that we are seeing that is specifically anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, that is especially emanating, according to some at least, from these various Western countries.
If you look at some of the analysis that's coming out, there is a certain sense that Western leaders especially need to bear a certain burden of responsibility for their rhetoric and exactly how they choose to frame their opinions and their policies, especially when it comes to Islam and immigration.
When it comes to Turkey, we also have some news from a senior Turkish official, that the perpetrator of this hideous attack came to Turkey on a number of occasions. The Turkish authorities right now are trying to look into what his exact movements were, who he may have met with in the country.
They also believe he may have traveled from Turkey to other European or Asian nations. Turkey state broadcaster TRT citing Turkish officials list some of his visits taking place back to 2016, one of them lasting about 43 days.
And according to state broadcaster TRT, there is suspicion that the perpetrator of that New Zealand massacre may have been in Turkey with the intent to carry out an act of violence here or some sort of assassination. That is something the authorities here are looking into a very seriously.
WATSON: And, of course, Turkey is no stranger to acts of terrorism from all across the political spectrum.
What about ordinary people?
What are they telling you about how they are feeling after Muslims were gunned down during Friday prayers, literally on their knees, in a mosque here on the other side of the planet?
DAMON: When you talk to people there is still that sense of shock and many here can relate to that sense of comfort that they have when they do go to the mosque for prayers, especially on a Friday, on the Muslim holy day.
The sense that, within such religious sanctuary, they are normally meant to be at peace they are normally meant to be safe. One taxi driver I was talking to actually had some very poignant remarks in saying that this act of violence was not carry out by a human being, it was carried out by an animal.
Then he went on to stress that no one should allow this kind of hatred, this kind of hateful action to further divide populations. And he was saying that everyone should be doing their part to prevent this sort of divisiveness, to prevent this hatred from spreading and even further dividing peoples.
As we know only too well here, especially in the region, when you have that kind of hatred, when you have that kind of fear that is created, that is something that everyone who has malicious intent can so easily capitalize on, creating an even more dangerous situation.
WATSON: That's right and that taxi driver maybe heartened to hear that that is a message that is being spread by many people here in New Zealand, who are grieving at the attacks on members of the Muslim community here in New Zealand. That's Arwa Damon, live with the view from Istanbul, Turkey, thank you very much.
Natalie, I'm going to turn it over to you now and CNN Center.
ALLEN: All right, thank you and thanks to Arwa as well.
Coming up, the motives of the alleged gunmen laid out in black and white, a so-called manifesto and its hateful propaganda.
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ALLEN: And welcome back. You're watching CNN's continuing breaking news coverage of the terror attack in New Zealand. I'm Natalie Allen from CNN Center in Atlanta. Here now is the latest we have for you on the massacre.
The man suspected of killing 49 people at two mosques in Christchurch appeared in court on Saturday; 28-year-old Brenton Tarrant remained silent as he was charged with murder and will remain in custody until his next court appearance in early April.
Tarrant's face is blurred due to court restriction. He was taken into the custody 36 minutes after the first call came in about shots fired and resisted arrest. Two other people are also in custody. Police are trying to determine if they were in any way directly involved in the massacre.
Our Randi Kaye takes a look at how the tragedy unfolded.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 1:40 pm in New Zealand and the Al Noor Mosque in the community of Christchurch is under attack in the middle of Friday prayers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody just run toward the back doors to save themselves.
KAYE: The shooting lasts 10 or 15 minutes. At the first mosque --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was just continuously shooting and coming inside slowly because he was killing all the people who are in the entrance.
KAYE: Shortly after 2:00 pm, schools in the area are on lockdown. Soon after, residents are told to stay indoors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Plus, we hide behind the cars and under the cars and then when we see the firing is still on, we try to jump the fence.
KAYE: In all the chaos, desperation and determination to survive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I just smashed the window, just jumping and people waiting outside, they run away from the mosque.
I say, what's going on?
They say, just run away.
KAYE: The shooter appears to fire randomly, both inside and outside the mosque. Before he leaves he shoots a woman on the sidewalk from a distance and then moves closer to deliver the fatal shot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was thinking that he must run out of bullets, you know. So what I did was basically waiting for that and praying to God, oh, God, please, now, let this guy run out of bullets.
KAYE: At a second mosque, this man says he saw someone grab the shooter's gun.
SYED MAZHARUDDIN, EYEWITNESS: There was one young guy, who usually takes care of mosque and helps in parking and other stuff. So he saw an opportunity and pounced over him and grabbed his gun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Grabbed the gun from his hands as he was shooting?
MAZHARUDDIN: Grabbed the gun, yes.
KAYE: Police go into lockdown. By the time it's over, 49 people are dead. Dozens, including children with gunshot wounds, are admitted to Christchurch Hospital
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KAYE: -- for treatment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Injuries ranging from gunshot wounds to the head and face, arms, leg and torso and soft tissue injuries.
KAYE: Investigators recover weapons at both locations, plus two improvised explosive devices attached to a vehicle. Police arrest a 28-year-old man now charged with murder. Two others are arrested for suspected weapons possession. None of them had been on any security watch list.
COMMISSIONER MIKE BUSH, NEW ZEALAND POLICE: We had -- no agency had any information about these people.
KAYE: Long after the shooting is over, some from inside the mosque still aren't answering their phones, leaving loved ones to wonder, are they alive?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I tried the mosque and saw police outside, so we've just been waiting here just to see if our son is all right. But he's not answering his phone.
KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
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ALLEN: The man suspected of murdering 49 people there in New Zealand was not shy about his hate. CNN's Drew Griffin takes a look at a hefty manifesto he reportedly posted online.
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DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: It's titled "The Great Replacement;" 87 pages, more than 16,000 words, not rambling but a spell-checked reference dissertation on a hate-filled view of immigrants, immigration and Muslims, unsigned. It is the killer's explanation for why he did this.
ARDERN: These are people who I would describe as having extremist views that have absolutely no place in New Zealand and in fact have no place in the world.
GRIFFIN: There is no doubt that the 28-year old under arrest is a white supremacist who believes his own white European race is being wiped out by immigration, labeling it white genocide. It is also the universal rallying cry of hate-filled white supremacists across the world. In Charlottesville, Virginia, the neo-Nazi cry was --
UNIDENTIFIED MALES: Jews will not replace us.
GRIFFIN: In Warsaw, Poland, in 2017, some marchers in an Independence Day demonstration carried banners that read "White Europe" and "Clean Blood."
In 2015 in Charleston, South Carolina, a white teenager named Dylann Roof murdered nine African Americans in a church.
The white supremacist reportedly said, "You all are raping our white women. You all are taking over the world," as he gunned down unarmed parishioners. The rhetoric is old but new technology has allowed these messages of hate to be spread in real time across the globe. The New Zealand killer streamed parts of his attack live on Facebook. The video spread to YouTube, Twitter, news sites before police pleaded for it to stop.
MIKE BUSH, COMMISSIONER, NEW ZEALAND POLICE: I have seen social media footage. It's very disturbing. It shouldn't be in the public domain and we're doing everything we can to remove it.
GRIFFIN: But hours after the attack, copies of the gruesome video still continued to appear shared by social media users. While police will not discuss a motive, the suspect refers to Dylann Roof and writes he was inspired by white supremacist Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people in Norway eight years ago.
He does try to explain his own breaking point came in 2017, the French presidential election of what he describes as an anti-white ex-banker and the terror related death of an 11-year-old Swedish girl, run down by a Muslim terrorist in a stolen truck in Stockholm, a crime, he writes, he could no longer ignore.
And in 87 pages, the suspect does make one reference to Donald Trump.
He writes, "Are you a supporter," asking himself, "as a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose?"
He answers, "Sure. As a policymaker, dear God, no." -- Drew Griffin, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: So let's go back now to Ivan Watson, he is covering a part of the story from Christchurch there in New Zealand.
WATSON: The New Zealand police have issued a statement saying that anyone who has any information on Friday's deadly mosque attack to come forward and share them as we move forward with the investigation.
This has been described as the deadliest attack in New Zealand's history. At least 49 people have been killed, many more wounded, some of them fighting for their lives here in Christchurch Hospital.
The police say they captured a key suspect less than 40 minutes after they received the first emergency call on Friday. Here is the police commissioner of New Zealand with more on that detention.
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COMMISSIONER MIKE BUSH, NEW ZEALAND POLICE: That person was not willing to be arrested. Again, I think probably you've seen some of that live video. There was live audio coming back to my command center in Wellington of that apprehension. And, I can tell you, as I was listening to that, the person was non-
compliant. We also believe that not only were there IEDs in the vehicle, so it was a very dangerous maneuver, there also firearms in that vehicle.
So our staff, who were well equipped, did engage with that person and, again, put themselves in real danger to keep the community safe from fear of their harm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: And even more chilling, the key suspect, 28-year-old Australian Brenton Tarrant, was believed to have been livestreaming on Facebook the attack as he carried it out, either from a chestcam or from a helmet camera. And now politicians around the world are calling on social media to do more to stop this spreading of terrorism.
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SAMUEL BURKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is truly a vicious cycle; not only was the attacker influenced by social media, evident from the manifesto he linked to on Twitter, the fact that a body camera was used to broadcast live on Facebook shows that social media was a part of the attacker's planning.
Now Facebook says it quickly took down the original video; we don't know if quickly meant during the 17 minutes that it was broadcast live on Facebook or if it was a long time after the video was already available for many to see.
Plus, many, many hours after the attack, the video could still be found on major social media platforms. In fact, it was shared by a Twitter account with nearly 700,000 followers.
You'll hear people say, don't share the video online. But even just watching it spreads the recording on the Internet; that's because algorithms count how many people are watching and then show it to more and more users.
And it is troubling that some TV news outlets even showed the raw video. And that confuses the algorithms, which should be automatically taking the video down once it is flagged.
That's because when it sees logos and news graphics from a media organization, that tells the algorithms that this is something that could be journalistically sound, so then we have to wait for a human moderator to come down and take the video away.
Now if you look at this Facebook page, posted long after the attacks, it warns about graphic content but simply has a video button that says uncover to click and see it.
For its part, Facebook says quote, "New Zealand police alerted us to a video on Facebook shortly after the live stream commenced and we quickly removed both the shooter's Facebook and Instagram accounts and the video. We're also removing any praise or support for the crime and the shooter or shooters as soon as we are aware."
Clearly not fast enough on a platform with billions of users and billions in revenue -- I'm Samuel Burke. Back to you.
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WATSON: That is Samuel Burke reporting from London.
And if social media was used to spread fear and violence by a key suspect in this active terror, it is also being used to spread shows of support for the victims, both here in New Zealand and around the world.
And we have some live images of collections of flowers that well- wishers have been putting up on the other side of the park that I'm standing out here in front of Christchurch Hospital, where some of the victims are currently being treated.
I'm going to turn it back over to you, Natalie, at CNN Center.
ALLEN: It is beautiful to see the flowers and the candles and the people that showed the respect and their support. Ivan, thank you.
We will continue to follow the developments from New Zealand.
But we are also looking at other news, following the latest on the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302. Ahead here, investigators are one step closer to finding out what happened, the so-called black boxes are starting to give up secrets. We'll have the report from France on what happens next.
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ALLEN: Welcome back.
Other news we are following around the world, the data has now been downloaded from the cockpit and flight recorders of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302. The process could be completed over the next day or so, we are told. Once analyzed, investigators hope they will discover why the Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashed soon after takeoff, killing all 157 people on board. For the latest, here's CNN Oren Liebermann.
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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Work here has begun to inspect the so-called black boxes, the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder, and to begin to download the data from those recorders that will give investigators a far better insight into what happened with the pilots on board Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 as well as what was happening with the plane itself and all of its systems. If all goes well, this process could be concluded as early as Saturday
night or sometime on Sunday. But a source here close to the investigation cautioned us that if there's any damage to the flight data recorder or the cockpit voice recorder, it could take longer.
And this is a slow and painstaking process. It begins with a visual inspection of the boxes themselves, then opening them up, removing the electrical components that record all of the data and the voices, then inspecting those components one at a time.
Finally you can begin to download the data. When that has concluded and all that data has been downloaded, it's up to the Ethiopian authorities what they want to do next and who they want to turn to for an analysis of what happened on board that plane.
The could use the BEA here behind me, French aviation investigation authorities. Or they could go to the NTSB or one of the other handful of groups around the world able to analyze that data and to glean from the information so crucial at this point to the investigation. That decision rests with Ethiopian authorities as the entire world looks to see what happened on board that plane.
Meanwhile, countries around the world have grounded the 737 MAX 8 and MAX 9, waiting to see what happens with the investigation. The FAA has now joined that, as has Boeing, who has said they will continue to construct the airplane but they will pause deliveries as they monitor the situation.
Meanwhile we have learned that, shortly after takeoff of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, the pilot radioed in that he was experiencing problems and was returning for a landing. "The New York Times" has reported a bit more detail, saying that the pilot radioed in, "Break, break, request back to home and requests a vector for landing."
Air traffic controllers diverted two flights to try to give that pilot as much leeway as possible to try to make it back to the airport. But just a couple minutes later, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed, killing all on board.
The investigation now focusing here on the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data reporter to try to pull the information to help investigators to understand exactly what happened on board that led to such a terrible ending -- Oren Liebermann, CNN, Paris.
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ALLEN: Here in the United States, President Trump has rejected a congressional resolution to block his emergency declaration on the southern border. On Friday he signed his first-ever veto, saying that the resolution put countless Americans in danger.
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DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To defend the safety and security of all Americans, I will be signing and issuing a formal veto of this reckless resolution. I have the duty to veto it and I'm very proud to veto it.
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ALLEN: Mr. Trump's veto send the resolution back to the U.S. House of Representatives, which is expected to pick it up after a weeklong recess but the House is not expected to have enough support to override the president's veto.
People around the world continue to mourn after the terror attacks in Christchurch. Ahead here, the worldwide tribute honoring the people who died.
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ALLEN: Again, here's what we know about the massacre in New Zealand at this point. The Australian man accused of shooting at least 88 unarmed people in two mosques in Christchurch has been charged with one count of murder but more charges are coming; 49 people died as they worshiped, 39 others were wounded and are still hospitalized, some of them, fighting for their lives.
Police captured the man 36 minutes after the first call came in. This video shows them apprehending him on the sidewalk. They said he would have kept killing if he had not been stopped.
Let's go back to Ivan Watson, who is in Christchurch, New Zealand, and he is outside of the hospital where many of these victims are being taken care of.
WATSON: That's right, we're in front of Christchurch hospital where people are quite literally fighting for their lives after these deadly terror attacks on Friday. And we have some well-wishers here, we will show you, performing vigils and showing their support in their own way, here with candles lit in front of the hospital across the park from where I'm standing, with bouquets of flowers that have been erected as well.
There's people embracing each other outside this hospital. This is clearly an event that has shocked and traumatized not only Christchurch, New Zealand's second largest city, but much of the country as well, where many people will tell you that these types of mass shootings did not happen in our country.
And, of course, there has been an outpouring of support for the victims and for New Zealand coming from around the world, as you see in this report.
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SCOTT MORRISON, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: As family members with our New Zealand cousins today. We grieve. We are shocked, we are appalled, we are outraged. But I particularly want to express my sincere prayers and thoughts for those New Zealanders and indeed Australians of Islamic faith today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE). We are here to deliver a very simple message: it was an act of extremism and boundless horror and violence. All of us decry that unacceptable and unspeakable act.
JEREMY CORBYN, LEADER, U.K. LABOUR PARTY: Communities come together, communities support each other and we are happy with our diversity in our society.
JOHN BERCOW, SPEAKER, BRITISH HOUSE OF COMMONS: Colleagues, I propose a minute of silence, starting now.
SADIQ KHAN, MAYOR OF LONDON: As far as we are concerned, our diversity is a strength, not a weakness, we don't simply tolerate it; we celebrate it, we embrace it and we respect it.
ANNE GUEGUEN, FRENCH DEPUTY AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N. (from captions): The members of the Security Council express their deepest condolences to the families and loved one of those killed --
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GUEGUEN (from captions): -- and they express their solidarity to the people and the government of New Zealand.
I ask those present to now rise for a minute of silence as tribute for the victims.
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WATSON: Again, a sense of how people around the world have been touched, affected and saddened by these acts of terror here in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Friday.
And, Natalie, the authorities here in New Zealand have urged mosques to close their doors in the wake of these attacks as a security precautions, fearing perhaps more of the same.
And there have been more reports of churches around the country opening their doors to Muslims, who are now denied a place of worship in the wake of these attacks, to get people a place of safety, a show of international solidarity in the wake of these terror attacks.
ALLEN: That's a beautiful, poignant thing to report, Ivan. We appreciate that. As horrible and heinous and tragic and shocking as all of this is, it's always empowering to see that most people in the world want peace. Most people would never, ever think of anything like what this person carried out there in New Zealand.
And certainly people are rallying around that country. Thank you for your reporting and your perspectives this hour, Ivan.
And thank you, everyone, for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen in Atlanta. The news continues next, with Ivan and my colleague, George Howell. You're watching CNN.
