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Testimony: Mulvaney Was Point Man on Quid Pro Quo; Mayor Bloomberg Enters Democratic 2020 Race; Berlin Wall 30th Anniversary; India Supreme Court Awards Disputed Land to Hindus. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired November 09, 2019 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Impeachment testimony provides new details about who orchestrated the push by the White House to investigate Joe Biden and his son.
Also the Bloomberg effect: the impact the billionaire former mayor of New York is having on the race for the White House.
Plus, anniversary of freedom: Germany remembers the day the Berlin Wall came down and east and west came together. Yes, it's been 30 years and we take you to Berlin for the commemoration.
Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world and in Germany. We're live in Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
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ALLEN: Thank you again for joining us.
An attorney for former White House national security adviser John Bolton says his client has relevant information about the Ukraine scandal that has not yet been disclosed. Even so, Bolton failed to show up for a deposition Thursday.
Meantime, newly released testimony puts acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney squarely in the middle of the Ukraine scandal. CNN's Alex Marquardt begins.
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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Two of the most central players in the relationship with Ukraine putting the president's chief of staff at the center of the scandal and delivering the harshest blow to the president's claim there was no quid pro quo.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a hoax. This is just like the Russian witch-hunt. MARQUARDT: Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, the top Ukraine expert on National Security Council, telling lawmakers there was no ambiguity, that, in order for Ukraine's president to get a meeting at the White House, they had to investigate the Bidens.
Vindman was on the call between the U.S. and Ukrainian presidents on July 25, which he said left no doubt that this is what was required in order to get the meeting that the Ukrainians had been aggressively pushing for.
Vindman also heard that message from Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, who was relaying a message from acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney. Mulvaney admitted to the quid pro quo last month.
MICK MULVANEY, ACTING WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Get over it. There's going to be political influence in foreign policy.
MARQUARDT: The decorated colonel testified he responded that it was inappropriate and had nothing to do with national security.
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): Well, I want to thank Colonel Vindman for his courage in coming forward, his willingness to follow the law, to do his duty.
MARQUARDT: Vindman wasn't alone. His then boss, Dr. Fiona Hill, read the transcript of the call and said she was shocked.
"I sat in an awful lot of calls," she said, "and I have not seen anything like this."
Hill had also been told by Sondland that Mulvaney stated that the Ukrainians would get a presidential meeting if the Ukrainians started up these investigations again. Hill testified that Sondland told this directly to the Ukrainians in the July 10 meeting.
John Bolton, who was National Security adviser at the time, suddenly ended the meeting. Bolton then told Hill to report it to the top NSC lawyer, saying: "I'm not part of whatever drug deal Sondland and Mulvaney are cooking up."
Vindman, who was also disturbed by the meeting, reported it as well. Hill and Vindman had both known about the role that Rudy Giuliani was playing in Ukraine, pushing the conspiracy theories and working to get the U.S. ambassador removed.
After he was successful, Bolton told Hill that Giuliani was a "hand grenade that's going to blow everybody up."
Dr. Hill left the White House in August and said that, during her time there and since then, she has gotten all kinds of threats, including death threats, calls with obscenities to her house, people hammering on her front door.
She was called a mole for George Soros, which is common anti-Semitic slander. And she was accused of colluding with enemies of the president -- Alex Marquardt, CNN, Washington.
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ALLEN: Let's talk about these developments with Amy Pope. She's an associate fellow at Chatham House in London and most recently served as the deputy Homeland Security advisor to President Obama at the White House.
Thank you so much for joining us this morning.
AMY POPE, CHATHAM HOUSE: Good morning.
ALLEN: Let's begin with Trump's close advisers. A lot of talk there in that report about acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. Then there's the president's former national security adviser John Bolton and Rudy Giuliani. They have one thing in common, they will not testify.
Without their input, does that damage the inquiry?
POPE: I think we have enough here that suggests something was going very, very wrong.
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POPE: We know from Fiona Hill's testimony that John Bolton directed her to stop the interaction between Ambassador Sondland and the Ukrainians. That is extraordinary, to go down and interrupt a meeting happening with foreign officials because the national security adviser is very concerned about the path that is being taken.
We certainly have the foundation. Ultimately, I believe these witnesses will testify. In what context I think remains to be determined. But once the full story comes out, it all looks to corroborate the initial allegations of the whistleblower.
ALLEN: You believe they will testify. An attorney for Bolton says his client has relevant information about the Ukraine scandal that has not yet been disclosed. But it seems the committee, right now, is not going to hear that because Bolton doesn't want to come forward. It sounds like he's kind of teasing the committee with, I've got stuff but you're not going to get it voluntarily.
POPE: My suspicion is there is a negotiation happening behind the scenes regarding his testimony. If he is ultimately subpoenaed to testify, there are very few options for him. I don't see him putting his future at risk by not testifying but I'm certain he would want to lock down as much as he possibly can the parameters of that.
So that is what I suspect is happening. The fact that they're putting this information out there suggests that he will ultimately come forward. His lawyer wouldn't do that if that wasn't his intent.
ALLEN: We know next week the public hearings get under way.
Will that be a significant paradigm shift? POPE: It's interesting because the Republicans have complained for some time that the closed door depositions were unconstitutional, violating the president's due process. And then you see the president himself, saying I can't believe we're now going to have public hearings. There is an odd contradiction at this point.
Ultimately in past impeachment hearings we've seen on the record testimony. So in terms of paradigm shift, I think we're moving towards a paradigm alignment and a situation that may look more like past impeachment hearings.
ALLEN: Ambassador William Taylor is expected to be the first to testify, called an astoundingly incredible witness in part because of his understanding that there was a quid quo pro linking military aid for Ukraine to investigate the president's political rivals.
Any surprise that he is the first witness?
POPE: Not at all. If I were advising the chairmen of the committees, I would want to put on the most non-partisan people with the longest experience across multiple administrations, who can credibly testify as to why this particular behavior triggered so many alarm bells.
And the reason to have someone like Taylor is that he does have that credibility; he served in the State Department for many, many years across several different administrations.
And the committee hearing is going to showcase why this particular behavior was so out of line with traditional norms, regardless of whether we're talking about Republican administrations or Democrat administrations.
ALLEN: Amy, thank you and please stick around because we want to get your thoughts on our next story.
Billionaire Michael Bloomberg has given the clearest signs so far he is considering running for U.S. president. The former New York mayor filed paperwork on Friday to get on Alabama's Democratic presidential primary ballot. As CNN's Arlette Saenz reports, this could mean trouble for Joe Biden.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: All right. Where do I sign?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER (voice-over): Joe Biden filing papers, placing his name on the New Hampshire's primary ballot as he faces the threat of a new challenger.
Michael Bloomberg taking steps to make a late entry into the 2020 race but Biden saying he's not worried.
BIDEN: Welcome into the race. Michael is a solid guy and let's see where it goes. I have no problem with him getting in the race.
SAENZ: Bloomberg seen in New York City, not answering questions as his team was set to file the primary paperwork in Alabama, whose deadline is today.
The former New York City mayor ruled out a 2020 bid in March as he saw a narrow path to victory with Biden in the race.
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SAENZ (voice-over): As recently as September, Bloomberg said he was comfortable with his decision.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: When you look at the layout of who's going to vote and where the country is, I would be very unlikely to get re-elected.
SAENZ: In fact, Bloomberg was among the lower polling candidates in early surveys.
A CNN national poll last December showed him registering at just 2 percent and in recent polling has shown the overwhelming majority of potential Democratic voters are satisfied with their options in the current field.
BLOOMBERG: Smaller group --
SAENZ: But now, advisers to Bloomberg say he's concerned the current crop is not well-positioned to beat President Trump.
His potential rivals firing back. Bernie Sanders tweeting: The billionaire class is scared and they should be scared.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is not enough just to have somebody come in, anybody and say they're going to buy this election.
SAENZ: For years, the billionaire Bloomberg was a registered Republican, later becoming an independent before registering as a Democrat last year. He's poured millions into progressive causes like combating climate change and gun control.
BLOOMBERG: We've got to send a message to elected officials: vote for common sense gun laws or we will throw you out. Enough!
SAENZ: As Bloomberg gets closer to jumping into the 2020 race, President Trump predicts a Bloomberg candidacy will fail.
TRUMP: He will not do very well and, if he did, I'd be happy. There is nobody I'd rather run against.
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ALLEN: All right. Trump wants to take on Bloomberg. That could be interesting.
Joe Biden says, Amy, he's not worried about Bloomberg getting into the race.
Do you think he should be? POPE: I don't think so. When you look at the issues Joe Biden has confronted in terms of whether he should be the nominee, most of them center around his age, the fact that he's an older, white, more middle of the road man.
So you put in another candidate who is even older than Joe Biden who was a registered Republican, you know, it's just no contest. I mean, I think here Biden has so much more relevant experience, especially when it comes to things like foreign policy.
If you're going to compare like to like, it doesn't seem like this is something Biden should be worried about. The Democrats as a whole need to narrow down the field if they are going to get some momentum behind any one of them.
ALLEN: What about the reasons Bloomberg gave for running?
He says he's worried the current field can't beat Donald Trump.
POPE: It's not clear why he thinks his entering the race is going to change that calculation. He certainly is a credible candidate. He has relevant experience. But he has not been part of the debates that have happened to date.
It looks like his strategy is to skip some of the early primaries. All of that sends the wrong signal to voters. So I am not sure why he believes this strategy is ultimately going to put him into the center of the debate or will actually result in a better situation for Democrats.
ALLEN: If voters in Iowa or New Hampshire aren't for Biden yet after eight years as Obama's vice president and 30 years in the Senate, why would they suddenly decide they are for him?
POPE: Well, look, this is a very unpredictable race. So I -- and I'm not a pollster. What I do know is he's a very centrist candidate. We know from the midterm elections that has appealed to voters.
We know from what we saw in the recent elections with Virginia and with Kentucky that people are looking for candidates who will reach across the aisle, who will not increase the division, the partisan rhetoric and who are looking to get meaningful change done.
So I think Biden offers a credible way forward. Whether that persuades voters, we will see. But I wouldn't discount him at this point.
ALLEN: Donald Trump lost suburban support in state elections this week. There is a belief that people that have voted for Trump that might consider not would be looking for a moderate on the Democrats' side. That makes sense.
I want to ask you, how will a billionaire candidate Bloomberg fair against the anti-billionaires on the ticket, Warren and Sanders?
[04:15:00] POPE: I believe that the voters are frustrated in general with a system they believe hasn't worked for them.
When you look at the reasons why President Obama won in 2008, 2012 and you look at the people who then voted for Trump, there is this clear line of frustration that whether it's wealth inequality, manufacturing, jobs, all of that really matters to people and their bottom lines. So having another billionaire is not the answer. People want to see how you're going to change my day-to-day.
ALLEN: All right. We appreciate your insight so much. Thanks for getting up early in London to come on.
POPE: Thank you.
ALLEN: And his Monday, Joe Biden takes questions from voters in a CNN presidential town hall. CNN's Erin Burnett moderates live from Iowa Monday night 9:00 Eastern.
A seismic historic event occurring in Germany. We take you to Berlin where world leaders are remembering the symbolic end to the Cold War. They're celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall 30 years ago.
Plus, Muslims and Hindus have been fighting over a religious site for more than 100 years. We'll see who India's supreme court finally awarded the title to in a live report for you. Much more ahead here.
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ALLEN: Live video here from Germany. Commemorations are about to get underway in Berlin, marking the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. That's Angela Merkel there under the umbrella. Doesn't look like a sunny day there for this ceremony.
European leaders are at the memorial site for it. They're gathered to recall when East Germans and came together 30 years ago as jubilant crowds dismantled the Cold War symbol that allowed those in the Communist East to travel freely to the capitalist West. Fred Pleitgen will be joining us for this commemoration that lasts a few hours.
Fred, hello to you. It was quite some time since the fall of the Berlin Wall and many remember it.
What is the mood there today for the commemoration?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're at what's called the Eastside Gallery. This is the longest stretch of the Berlin Wall that is actually still standing. It's on part of a river that runs through Berlin. But of course, the biggest attraction here today is our own CNN
Trabant. This was a Communist car that people drove in Germany. We had it painted and everybody loves it.
The mood this year is a lot different than the big anniversaries I've seen in the past. Five years ago, there was a big light installation. Ten years ago, they had a set of dominoes being pushed over. The heads of states, all the large allied nations like France, Britain, Russia and the U.S. were here to commemorate this.
This year, things are actually a bit more low key. You have some leaders here from Eastern European countries and, of course, were very important because they had revolutions of their own: Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, where a lot of the dramatic changes happened in 1989, where those also took place.
But I would say in total, while the mood here in Berlin is jubilant, it is somewhat more solemn than it has been during anniversaries over the past 30 years that have been going on.
And the mayor of Berlin, he said the reason for that is because the Berliners feel that right now globally the political climate is, you know, a bit more solemn, is a bit less jubilant than it had been.
They talk about things like Brexit, the political situation here in Germany; that might dampen the mood just a little bit. So there are celebrations but they're not as big as they were five or 10 years ago.
ALLEN: And to your point there, Fred, Angela Merkel has had some pessimistic remarks surrounding this anniversary about the future of Germany and the leadership that she worries about.
PLEITGEN: You are absolutely right. She gave a couple of bit interviews before this celebration and I would say her feelings about unification were very clear. She said it was the best thing that happened to Germany, it was a very important thing.
But at the same time, it's clear that this country does face some dramatic problems and some dramatic issues. While not all of them stem from that time, they are certainly amplified by that time as well.
In Eastern Germany, with the far right is on the rise in places and some folks in those places who still feel as though they have been somewhat left behind in Germany, if you look at the big companies that have relocated to many places in the eastern part of Germany, yes, there are a lot of factors that do dampen that mood.
You have had seen this in regional elections, where these far right parties gain a lot, anti-European parties, as well. And certainly something that does very much weigh on the political mood here in this country.
In many ways, there are a lot of people here in this nation who still feel, 30 years after fall of the Berlin Wall, there are certain divisions among the populations. If you look at the eastern part of the country, it is a mixed bag of results.
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PLEITGEN: So we've been looking back at what's with been going on over the past 30 years and here is what we found.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The line of demarcation in the Cold War lies in Berlin.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): For 28 years, the Berlin Wall symbolized the struggle between capitalism and communism and the cruel division between the people of East and West Berlin.
RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.
PLEITGEN (on-camera): So here at CNN, we actually own our own CNN Trabant. This was the epitome of communist East German automotive engineering. And for the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, what we're going to do is we're going to take this car and take a drive back into history. That is if I fit into the car. Because it's small and I'm big. Ready to go.
PLEITGEN (on-camera): The remnants of the wall are a tourist attraction nowadays, but this deadly barrier with border guards, observation towers and barbed wire struck fear into the Berliners it divided.
I stopped and picked up Peter Bieber who grew up in East Germany despising the communist regime and the wall it needed to keep people from fleeing into the West.
PETER BIEBER, ESCAPED EAST GERMANY: You look and saw the wall. And you know it's the end.
PLEITGEN: Yes.
BIEBER: It's the end of the world. You can't go where you want.
PLEITGEN: As a young man, Peter Bieber attempted to flee East Germany several times until he finally succeeded in 1972. He then helped others get out as well, until he was betrayed and arrested by East Germany's secret police, the Stasi and spent five years in jail there.
BIEBER: It was a little --
PLEITGEN: Psychological terror. Yes.
BIEBER: Me, I sit in a little room, not so light. And one month, two months, nobody came and said anything.
PLEITGEN: The West German government eventually paid East Germany to release Peter Bieber, but many others who tried to get away paid with their lives. More than 100 of them in Berlin. In 1989, East Germans had had enough, after a wave of mass protests, the regime opened the wall leading to mass celebrations as people from all over the world joined in to literally tear down the wall.
BIEBER: I think about the freedom, that's for me the highest point --
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PLEITGEN (on-camera): The highest good that people can have is freedom.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Thirty years later, a united Berlin is thriving, having shed the shackles of communism and dismantled the wall many thought could never be breached.
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PLEITGEN: Berlin very much is a thriving metropolis. It's become a center of Europe. But I can tell you, I lived in East Berlin, Natalie, for five years. And back then, Berlin was really like a small backwater town. To see the way it is right now, it is remarkable.
As was just noted in that report, the wall has now become a tourist attraction but at the same time, 30 years later, it is still so very important to especially educate young people about what the wall meant and how terrifying the Berlin Wall was to people who were living on both sides of it here in what was this divided city of Berlin, Natalie.
ALLEN: I was wondering how engrossed in this event the young people are.
How does the car there drive, Fred?
PLEITGEN: So the car, we can give you a little tour if you have one second of time. So the Trabant car, it has 45 horsepower, it goes about 70 miles per hour. The thing is, if I try to get into it, it's quite difficult.
I do drive this car, right?
So I can show you getting into it, I'm about 6'5. So like, it's very difficult for me to actually get in. But then I do make it.
And also, the other thing is that, if you do the ignition, you have to pull this lever here, which is called the choke, for the car to actually -- big man, small car. It works but it's definitely -- it's a bit like -- it's a bit like being in the Navy, driving this car. It's not just a job; it's an adventure, Natalie.
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ALLEN: We enjoyed your report there. Fred, we'll see you again as the ceremony gets underway. Thanks very much.
So yes, again, much more on the history of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
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ALLEN: The world remembers a key event that led to the end of the Soviet Union. We'll also be going to Moscow to have Russia's reflections on that. Stay with us.
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ALLEN: Live pictures here from Germany as the crowds celebrate the wall coming down. The dismantling of the wall led to the reunification of Germany and ultimately the end of the Soviet Union. Fred Pleitgen is back with me observing these events.
Who all is expected to take part, Fred?
PLEITGEN: The events this year are a little different than they were five years ago or 10 years ago, when the big heads of the state of the allied nations who were insrtl in making the fall of the wall. Normally you would have the president of Russia, of France, the prime minister of Britain, the United Kingdom, as well.
This year, it's the Eastern European central heads of state. And the reason why they did it this year is because a lot of these Central European countries were so instrumental during that time. You look, for instance, at Poland, which obviously had communism undermined by the population, people went on strike there.
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PLEITGEN: So Poland really a very central country also to the demise of Communism.
The Hungarians were also very, very important, one of the first ones to open the Iron Curtain. Tehre was a Hungarian border guard who then decided on his own to open the Iron Curtain. You had the Czech Republic, the Slovakians, East Germans who fled to plague.
So all these countries obviously played a very, very big role in what eventually led to the reunification of Germany. However, one of the things that Angela Merkel said -- and I think we're seeing her on some of our live video feeds -- she said the one thing that we always have to keep in mind in this now unified country is that, of course, many nations played a part and both Germanys played a part in the unification.
But it was the East Germans that led to the fall of the wall. And that's something that she says today also has to be remembered as well. We talked about this a little bit. It's still very much a country that, at least in the minds of some people, is still very much divided, where some of the East Germans still feel like they're second class citizens or they haven't caught on economically. Angela Merkel was saying in an interview, keep in mind, these are the
people who, through the protests that they started in October and November of 1989 and leading up to the opening of the wall, which was announced by mistake by the East German government, they then pushed through the wall and that was the beginning of the end of the communist nation.
That is something Angela Merkel said she wanted to make a point of. The celebrations here make a point of it as well; they're not one big event. There are events here in Berlin that have unfolded over the past week or so.
They started on November 4th. On November 4th, 1989, was the day of the largest demonstration in eastern Germany in what is called the Alexander Square in central and what is now East Berlin.
So all that pays tribute to the fact that it was the people of these Central European nations that played a large role undermining communism and the East Germans pushing through the Berlin Wall and leading to the Berlin Wall getting taken down and eventually this country being gifted with reunification.
ALLEN: Fred, thank you.
The ceremony has begun, so let's just listen for a few moments.
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ALLEN: So again, events today include visits to a monument, a chapel service and a candle lighting that will take place over the next three hours. Of course, the dismantling of the wall leading to the reunification of Germany.
All right. Let's go now -- let's go now to Matthew Chance. He is in Moscow.
And, of course, Matthew, when the wall came down, so crumbled the Soviet Union.
How are they remembering this anniversary there?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They're not sending a very high level delegation to these celebrations underway in Berlin now. It's just the Russian ambassador to Germany who will be representing the Russian Federation.
Look, there is a very different perspective here in the Russian capital to these dramatic historic events compared to, you know, how people in the West see it.
This whole era, which started with the fall of the Berlin Wall and finished with the collapse of the Soviet Union, has been described by Vladimir Putin a few years back as the biggest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century.
It plunged millions of people in what was to the Soviet Union utter chaos and economic despair and that's still very acutely felt. Just last year, Vladimir Putin said if there was one historical event that he could change, it would be the collapse of the Soviet Union.
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CHANCE: So even though people like Mikhail Gorbachev are heralded in the West as the individuals responsible for this great triumph, if you like, from a Western point of view, in Russia and particularly for Vladimir Putin and the people that support him, which is a lot of people in this country, they say that Gorbachev policy, the collapse of the Soviet Union, allowing the Berlin Wall to fall, as an example of huge political naivete that, as I say, plunged what was the Soviet Union and what is now Russia for the most part into a huge amount of geopolitical turmoil.
So again, a very different perspective that you get here in Russia compared to what you're hearing and seeing on the ground there in Berlin itself.
ALLEN: Yes. Certainly understand. Mikhail Gorbachev, heralded around the world but not so much inside Russia itself. Matthew Chance for us there. Thank you for that perspective, Matthew.
We'll continue to follow along with the events there in Berlin. Coming next here, India's prime minister says the Supreme Court ruling should not be seen as a win or a loss for anyone. We'll have the latest on a verdict on the more than a centuries-old dispute between Hindus and Muslims. We'll tell you what it's all about. Stay with us.
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ALLEN: India's top court says the fiercely contested holy site in northern India should be given to Hindus who want to build a temple there. Muslims were handed a separate plot of land. Both groups have been fighting for ownership of the land for decades and it sparked deadly riots back in 1992.
Let's get more about it from Vedika Sud, joining me now live from New Delhi.
Talk to us about the reaction to this decision.
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VEDIKA SUD, JOURNALIST: So it's a significant and landmark achievement, really. The going ahead with this verdict by the supreme court has been a good one as far as the Hindus are concerned.
The Hindus constitute 80 percent of the population in India and they are extremely happy with this verdict. Muslims, not so much. They considered about 14 percent of the percentage of population in India. The representors in court are upset with this verdict. They are not satisfied. They might even be fighting for a review petition in the Supreme Court.
They claim five acres of land in an alternate land property is not what they're looking at. They want to fight this further and that could be an option that they're looking at in the near future.
As far as the prime minister is concerned, moments after this verdict was out, he has lauded the verdict, hailed the court for coming to an amicable solution as far as the longest legal battle over a title suit in India is concerned.
So politically, as far as the affiliates of the main Hindu party in India, they're extremely happy. Muslim political party, not so much. If you remember the 1992 destruction of the Barbary Mosque, the court has also called that illegal today. That was another significant order that the supreme court had spoken about while reading out its landmark verdict.
ALLEN: Thank you, Vedika Sud, for us there in New Delhi with the latest on this decision. Thanks.
We want to turn now to the story we continue to follow out of Mexico. A remote Mormon community there is under heavy protection after nine Americans, including two infants and three mothers, were massacred in an ambush. The family continues to bury their loved ones and they have not given up on the search for answers.
The questions, were the killings random or were the Mormons targeted?
Our Patrick Oppmann is in Mexico City.
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PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was another day of funerals and heartache for the family of nine Americans who were cut down, murdered by members of a Mexican cartel, as they were driving to a wedding, supposed to be a celebration for this tight-knit Mormon community that lives on the other side of this Mexican border.
Why these three women and their children, six children who died altogether, were targeted by this cartel is still a mystery. The Mexican government says it may have been a case of mistaken identity, as cartels battle over this territory that is used for drug trafficking by the cartels.
But members of the Mormon community said they didn't understand how that could have taken place, that they're well known in this community and that they had stayed out of the cartels' way, for the most part, over the years and there was no reason that members of a cartel would come into the area and fire over 200 rounds at these unarmed women and children.
All the same, though, they said even though their hearts are broken, they're just now begin to go fight for answers and for justice. LENZO WIDMAR, VICTIMS' RELATIVE (through translator): While we feel fire inside, if we felt the need for justice before, well, now it's multiplied. We have a desire to find, to put an end to this atrocity. We will continue to seek justice.
OPPMANN: Right now, the community is being protected by Mexican military and police but it's unclear how long they will be able to stay there. Mexican government officials admit that this area is lawless and they do not have the resources there to keep residents safe.
And even though members of this community have lived there for years, some are saying they are considering leaving, that it is no longer safe for them and their children. And the fact that six children, as young as 7 months old, could be murdered in cold blood perhaps it's no longer safe to live here for anyone. The final funeral is scheduled to take place on Saturday -- Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Mexico City, Mexico.
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ALLEN: Again, it is a historic day in Berlin, Germany. We're revisiting the day the Iron Curtain began to fall apart and Europe began counting down to the end of the Cold War. We'll continue our live coverage as we push on here.
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ALLEN: We turn you now again to live in Berlin. We are covering Germany, marking the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The ceremony has just begun. Leaders from other European countries and former Soviet bloc countries are on hand for this.
The barrier dividing the city's Communist east and capitalist west was dismantled. This video from 30 years ago, dismantled by jubilant crowds back in 1989, symbolically ending the Cold War.
There was there was no mistaking the historic significance of the events unfolding in Berlin 30 years ago and CNN was there back then, every step of the way. Here are some of the sights and sounds of how we covered the fall of the wall back in 1989.
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BRAD WHITE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was the largest demonstration in East German history. The main square was packed with carpeted with a half million people, the city virtually came to a standstill. Our top story.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Iron Curtain between East Germany and West Berlin has come tumbling down. East Germany announced today it is opening its borders, allowing its citizens to go anywhere they wish.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The future of the Berlin Wall is now up in the air.
DOUG JAMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: East Germany's Communist leaders have now taken a symbolic sledgehammer to that wall. It's conceivable, I suppose, now the wall, the real wall with real sledgehammers, will soon be brought down on that wall. There's no longer any point of it being there, a prospect that no one could have predicted a, year ago or even a month ago.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This has been a city physically divided for 28 years but now it's come together, East and West, in a spontaneous outburst of emotion.
TOM MINTIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This could be a first move to dismantling the Berlin Wall that has stood as the most painful symbol of a divided Germany, since it was built in 1961.
JONATHAN MANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One after another, drivers and passengers alike said they plan to use their new freedom to spend a weekend in West Germany and take, a look at how the other half lives.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every East German coming to the West received 100 marks, about $50. Many West German businesses are staying open around the clock, giving them a chance to not only spend the money but pick up goods to take home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hundreds of thousands of East Germans swarmed the streets of West Berlin. It was like a sea of people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This morning a new hold was made in the Berlin Wall at Potsdamer Platz. Yesterday, it was the Glienicke Bridge that opened up to many of us. These are just place names.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But what signal do these places send to the German people?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Potsdamer Platz was the Times Square building before the war. I was on the Glienicke Bridge yesterday and I have never seen more grown men with tears in my eyes than any time in my life on that bridge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The vast majority of East Germans don't want to leave homes, jobs and families to go live in the West. The question now is whether the breached in the wall have whetted the appetites of people here, not for just a little more change but a lot. East German leaders hope that by dismantling those things that have become symbols of their past, they can encourage the return of skilled workers, of doctors ,engineers and scientists needed to rebuild the country's future.
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ALLEN: We'll continue our coverage in the next hour. I'm Natalie Allen. CNN NEWSROOM continues right after this.
