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Police Shut Down London Bridge Due to an Unknown Incident; Black Friday Shoppers Out Looking for Bargains. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired November 29, 2019 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: It was a BBC reporter on the bridge at the time, and he's reporting that he saw a group of men involved in a fight on the bridge. Police then arrived and shots were fired. So we haven't confirmed that but it's coming via a BBC reporter who I know, I can vouch for pretty much, but the Met police confirming that some sort of incident has happened there.

They've locked the bridge down which obviously shows how seriously they're taking it. There has been an incident in that area before so these are very well-practiced routines. And occasionally areas are cleared when there are security incidents. And then they are called off pretty quickly. But because the bridge is still closed quite a few minutes after the initial incident, it's looking as if the police are taking this very seriously -- Ana.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Max, we will let you get back to gathering more information for us and we'll monitor the situation. We'll bring our viewers updates as we get it. Thank you very much, Max.

Back here stateside, stores are packed with Black Friday shoppers this morning looking for those blockbuster deals on holiday gifts. And for a lot of us it's simply a tradition to hit these stores the day after Thanksgiving. In fact today is one of the five biggest shopping days of the year.

CNN business correspondent Alison Kosik is inside a Best Buy in New Jersey.

Alison, so many deals are posted online before Thanksgiving. Is Black Friday still a thing?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I think Black Friday, Ana, really is still a thing. Doors opened about an hour and a half ago here at this Best Buy in Paramus, New Jersey. And a stream of customers -- healthy stream of customers has been coming through here, you know, scooping up those bargains. And as you said, this is one of five -- one day of a five-day shopping event starting yesterday, yes, on Thanksgiving, all the way through Monday, Cyber Monday.

The National Retail Federation expects 165 million people will come out and shop just over those five days. And the federation thinks that this is going to be a strong holiday shopping period because low unemployment, people are feeling confident and secure in their jobs. They are happy with their paychecks. So the estimates are anywhere from $727 billion to $730 billion talking about that three-month stretch, October, November, and December. That's how much is expected that is going to be spent in the final quarter of this year on holiday shopping -- Ana.

CABRERA: OK. Alison Kosik, keep us posted there. Thanks.

I'm joined now by finance expert, Monica Mehta, managing principal at Seventh Capital.

Monica, we saw where Alison was, there wasn't a big crowd. Is Black Friday what it once was given all the opportunities to shop online now?

MONICA MEHTA, FINANCE EXPERT: Black Friday is a very big deal, but now it is the holiday shopping season. So people will be shopping so much that retailers really, really count on this season. 40 percent of sales for retailers for the entire year come from just the days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. So this is an exceptionally crucial time.

CABRERA: And what about the trade war with China? Might that impact the holiday shopping season?

MEHTA: Well, it might impact it for retailers and for businesses, but as far as the consumer is concerned, they are looking at a stock market that is hitting record highs. They are looking at a job market that is still very strong, if you want a new job, 50 percent of people still believe it's easy to go out and get a new job. And, you know, they are looking at their home prices which a report came out this week which showed that we have the highest number of home sales starts since 2007.

So there's a lot of different things that make the consumer feel confident and also, you know, the trade war should cause prices to go up. You're not seeing that yet. And that's because a lot of businesses have been proactive. They've been taking steps to reroute trade, source from other places. They're not waiting for the politicians to figure it out. They're figuring it out in advance regardless of what happens.

CABRERA: You talked about some of the different, you know, benchmarks that are giving consumers confidence at this point. The strength of the economy, we also saw this week the last quarter GDP that was revised upward from 1.9 percent to 2.1 percent. Remember those fears of a looming recession? Has that all changed?

MEHTA: No, I think that is probably one of the biggest fear among people is it's been too good too long. So when are things going to change? Right now we're not going into a 2007 situation. Back, you know, 12 years ago, people had too much debt. They were using their house as a piggy bank. All of the consumer debt statistics are very different. People have changed their behavior. They are saving more.

But, really, when it comes to the economy, we have two different economies. We have the economy that hits, you know, the top 20 percent and the economy that hits everyone else. Most people still have a lot of anxiety about how are they going to pay for university for their kids? How are they going to cover child care costs that are ballooning? How are they going to cover health care costs?

So even though you have a very strong economy, there are a lot of anxieties that fuel people. And so there are things that are buttons that I think will come up with this political cycle that really despite a strong economy people are worried about.

CABRERA: OK. Thank you for that great update on all fronts, economic fronts. Shopping-wise and beyond. Thank you.

[09:35:06]

MEHTA: Thank you.

CABRERA: Good to see you, Monica.

Following our breaking news out of London, some kind of incident on London Bridge. We hear the bridge is now on lockdown. We will have an update for you when we come back.

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[09:40:08]

CABRERA: Breaking news out of London. And these are live images right now from London where we understand there is an incident they are dealing with at London Bridge. Police have now locked down the bridge. They are closing down roads and railways in that vicinity.

Let's go back live to Max Foster for more information.

Max, what more can you tell us?

FOSTER: We can see the red buses there that are on the other side of the road where this incident took place and we're getting lots of social media images from people sitting on those buses. So we know that the bridge is in lockdown. Everyone has been cleared from the area. One side of the road completely clear. And that's where the incident appears to have taken place.

So this is in the financial district of London, very close, you can see there, St. Paul's Cathedral on the right. We are near Tower Bridge, the famous bridge, just to give people a sense of where we are. And this is also where in 2017 there was a terror attack and several people were killed. So this is a very worrying situation. Lots of people running from the bridge.

The only confirmed information we have from the Metropolitan Police is that they are dealing with an incident there and they've advised people nearby to follow directions and leave the area. The last terror attack, the terrorists actually left the bridge after they rammed into some people and ran into the nearby Borough Market where they continued their attacks.

We are hearing lots of social media reports that various pubs in the Borough Market are being cleared today as well, suggesting that one of the perpetrators, the police at least who they think is a perpetrator, may still be on the run. We're hearing unconfirmed reports of shots being fired and we're certainly seeing lots of images of armed police heading to the scene -- Ana.

CABRERA: We do have witnesses saying they heard more than five gunshots. Again these are early reports. Sometimes early reports turn out to be inaccurate, Max, but obviously there is something going on. Police confirming they're dealing with an incident there at London Bridge. And you talk about the heightened sensitivity given the past history of an attack in that area.

What would normally be happening this time of day? 9:40 here our time. It's 2:42 in the afternoon there. What would the scene typically be at London Bridge?

FOSTER: Lots and lots of tourists mainly because you've got Tower of London there. Lots of tourist sites there. We are in the financial district as well. So office workers. It's currently about 20 to 3:00 here and a lot of the city workers will head home early on a Friday afternoon. So you'd expect people heading over to the bridge, going to their local chief stations and train stations. So that would be a busy area.

It does get very busy in Central London on a Friday afternoon. More busy than other afternoons because people are simply heading home earlier and also you have the tourists coming in for the weekend. But we do have these sorts of reports quite often in London because of this heightened sense of concern about terrorism because of the string of attacks we've had in recent years. But what I will say is that the police will normally get onto the scene very quickly.

They'll lock it down and then they'll open it up so as not to cause concern. The fact that they're keeping it locked down and apparently clearing local shops and pubs is a very bad sign indeed -- Ana.

CABRERA: OK. Max Foster, we know you will stay on it for us. Thank you. We'll be right back.

[09:45:00]

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CABRERA: Our breaking news we are following this hour out of London. Some kind of an incident, security incident on London Bridge.

Let's go back live to Max Foster who has new information -- Max.

FOSTER: This is from the police. They are saying they were called at 1:58 p.m. local time. So less than an hour ago. To a stabbing at a premise near London Bridge. Emergency services attended. A man is being detained by police. We believe a number of people have been injured, they're saying. They are going to release further information.

They are concerned about the amount of chatter on social media, but it's pretty clear that a lot of the images coming in to us on social media tie up and there's an ongoing incident which is why the police are still very much on the scene. The bridge is locked down. London Bridge station is locked down, and there are various premises around the area which are locked down as well. Initially lots of images coming in to us but because all the public have been cleared from that area, we're not getting much in now. We're relying on what the police are saying.

But from the amount of ambulances, from the amount of police vans turning up at the scene, this is obviously a major incident for the Met Police. Having spoken to them relatively recently about this sort of incident, the way they are handling it currently would certainly measure up to a major incident where they stop releasing early information and say follow our Twitter handle, for example, for more information.

If they were less concerned, they would be trying to dampen this one down. But, obviously, there's some images coming in which are really worrying for a lot of people to have seen. Lots of commuters in the area. Lots of tourists in the area. Also you've got the Borough Market there, where lots of people socialize on a Friday afternoon. So a frightening situation for many people in the capital today.

CABRERA: And the images we are looking at on our screen right now out of London show a lot of emergency vehicles currently on scene. Again, our viewers, letting them know that this incident appears to still be developing.

[09:50:06]

However, we do have a note from Metropolitan Police there saying -- or Met Police I should say saying that there was a stabbing and a man has been detained. However, there are multiple people who have been injured.

And Max, you talked about how there are incidents sometimes on the bridge that they end up closing London Bridge even as a precaution sometimes. The amount of security personnel on scene there, is that typical? Do they have a vast security presence typically?

FOSTER: Yes, they've got a very clear system in place. Sadly, we're very well practiced on that in recent years here in London. They got to the scene very, very quickly, indeed, and they are continuing to set up these cordons so it has all the signs of a major incident. I mean, there was an incident in 2017 on this bridge where several people were killed and the attack continued into Borough Market as well as people ran away. So they've got practice in this area.

And there were lessons learned from that incident that happened in the early hours. I was down there at the time. They made some mistakes. So one positive that might come out of that is they're practiced in this area. They know how to cover this.

You can see the police are also there because they're trying to secure the area. It's all hands on deck, effectively, and we saw armed police going in there as well. We know that there was a BBC reporter on the scene at the time and you can actually hear gunshots in the back of his phone call. So it looks as though this started in a serious way. Other people suggesting tasers were used, but it's pretty hard to mistake gunshots. So I think that's the working assumption right now -- Ana.

CABRERA: Again, we're continuing to follow the London Police Twitter account and there has been no mention specific of gunshots. However, they do confirm there was a stabbing. We also have heard from other witnesses who reported hearing what they thought were up to five gunshots.

As we continue to look at these images, Max, stay with me for just a moment, you mentioned this attack that happened back in 2017. You and I both were covering that. I was live on air during that time as it was unfolding. There were three men involved in that case and ultimately seven people died, 48 others were injured. So that gives our viewers here in the United States a sense of the gravity of this kind of incident and what, you know, people may be fearing right now. I mean, this has got to send a shock to the community there, Max.

FOSTER: Well, it hasn't been that recently that we've had one of these major incidents. So yes, absolutely worrying for so many people. And we've -- as I say, we've been very well practiced with this sort of incident. The last one at London Bridge, there were -- I think there were four unarmed police officers that were also killed in that attack. There were amazing stories of heroism in that incident.

If it was a terror attack, we're not working on that assumption quite yet because we need the police to announce that, then there would be a set pattern to the response. And I -- what I'm seeing here is a sort of pattern that you'd see in response to that, but I think in any major incident they are currently erring on the side of caution and they ramp it up earlier rather than later these days.

CABRERA: OK, Max, stand by. I want to bring in Nina dos Santos. She just arrived on scene and joins us on the phone.

Nina, what can you tell us?

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN EUROPE EDITOR (via phone): Hi there, Ana. Well, actually I haven't yet made it to London Bridge because the area is cordoned off. I've had to get out of the subway in a different station because London Bridge station is closed. Very little description as to why the station is closed. The commuters on this busy afternoon here largely just to say that coming out of the station, you can already see that some roads -- in nearby stations, some roads are already cordoned off. You've seen a number of police officers on motorbikes speeds towards the scene in London Bridge. You're still continuing to see police vehicles and ambulances as well

heading towards the scene over there. Otherwise lots of commuters here going about their day-to-day business in this busy part of South London, seemingly quite unaware of what is happening about a quarter of a mile down the road. I've asked a few people here on the exits of (INAUDIBLE) subway station which is about a quarter of a mile down the road alongside River Thames, and many of them totally unaware of what is happening at nearby London Bridge -- Ana.

CABRERA: And Nina, I know you are still working your way there, but it sounds like you're fairly close. You say you're still seeing ambulances heading to the scene?

DOS SANTOS: Well, I've seen one ambulance and a motorcade of about three or four police outriders as well heading towards the scene and obviously traffic was stopped for them to pass. But otherwise, apart from the sort of furtive back and forth of some of the emergency vehicles, it is a calm scene just about a quarter of a mile away. But obviously, as I was pointing out, before the fact that the busy subway station, London Bridge is a really busy station, it's also a busy train station as well for the overland train network as well. And it's a big tourist hot spot as Max was just telling you.

[09:55:02]

There's a big market there. It often is busy, at a festive time like this with the Christmas season getting under way. And for all those reasons, this is a busy part of London and it's a part of London that is a thoroughfare as well. So the fact that the train station, the subway station is shut off at the moment as head into a Friday and a weekend, obviously that is significant in itself. So as I get closer to the scene, of course I'll try to keep you updated.

But it's what I'm seeing over there but as I was saying before, as Max also said, we're starting to see already on social media a lot of the kind of pattern that you do see when in the past you have seen some of these things become eventually bigger. The Metropolitan Police putting out a statement about 45 minutes or so ago saying that they were in the early stages of dealing with an incident, but we just don't know at this point what the motivation of that incident is.

CABRERA: Right.

DOS SANTOS: Also that's also saying there are many videos that appear to have been taken by some of these commuters going back and forth on buses on London Bridge having witnessed what actually happened firsthand.

CABRERA: Right. OK, Nina dos Santos, we'll let you get back to gathering more information. Thank you for that update.

I have another update for our viewers. London Ambulance Service now tweeting out some more information saying they are responding to a major incident over London Bridge and have a number of crews at the scene there. And also we know there was a stabbing according to the Met Police and multiple people injured. Still unclear exactly how many people were involved. At least one person, we're told, has been detained.

We're going to stay on top of this breaking news. A quick break. We'll be back with the very latest. You're watching CNN. Stay right there.

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