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London Police Says, Man Detained After Stabbing Near London Bridge; Major Incident Declared At London Bridge. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired November 29, 2019 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

ANA CABRERA, CNN NEWSROOM: I want to welcome our viewers in the U.S. and around the world. I'm Ana Cabrera.

We are following breaking news at of London. London Ambulance Service declaring a major incident on London Bridge. Police believe a number of people have been injured in what they're saying is a stabbing. Police also say they have a man detained.

London Bridge is currently shut down, nearby railway station, shopping areas also on lockdown. You can see people having to go around, being turned away.

Let's go live to CNN's Max Foster in London.

Max, set the table for us. What do we know?

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: A frightening scene, the Met Police clearly responding to an incident on the bridge, but it's that line from their London Ambulance Service calling it a major incident which is probably most telling here because the Met Police in these circumstances give out very little information whilst the situation is ongoing. So they're obviously very concerned about this. They're aware of how these images will be going around the world. It's clearly a very serious incident indeed.

I know people in that area. Some are being locked in their buildings effectively. Some are being asked to evacuate buildings. There's a busy area nearby called Borough Market where a lot of people would head on a Friday afternoon to have food, to have drinks. That area, we understand it, has largely been evacuated as well. All suggesting that there is an ongoing threat here and the police are trying to understand what happened. It was a scene of a major terror incident in 2017, so they're well practiced in this area, sadly.

But in recent months, Ana, we haven't had something like this but we are well-practiced and the police appear to be in control of the situation currently, at least.

CABRERA: Okay. Max, let me bring in Noa Bodner. We're told this person witnessed something there in that area. Noah, can you hear me? This is Ana Cabrera. NOA BODNER, WITNESSED LONDON BRIDGE ATTACK: Yes. Hello, Ana.

CABRERA: Hi, Noa. Tell us what you're seeing or what you experienced.

BODNER: So there's not a lot to see right now because the bridge is on lockdown but we were seeing abandoned buses and ambulances and police cars. What happened earlier was that people all of a sudden rushed in at a cafe at the bottom of the bridge, the base of it. The people rushed in. The manager ran to the doors and shut them and everybody got under the tables. And after a few minutes, we were told to step away from the front of the restaurant where the bridge is to the back and everybody has been here ever since, basically just awaiting the okay to come out, which has yet to come.

But people have been very nice and supportive, so it's been great. Nobody seems to be panicking. It seems like our police have got it under control.

CABRERA: That sounds frightening though. When you first were told to get under the tables, to get away from the windows and the doors, what was going through your mind?

BODNER: Well, I'm originally from Israel, so all I could think of is, oh, I've been here before. But, really, immediately, you just think, am I near a window, am I by a wall, is this wall -- could this wall withstand gunshots, because at that point, we didn't know if it was police who were shooting or not. And just trying to evaluate your situation while keeping calm, and, yeah, just being very attentive to what's happening, not being stupid. Some people were trying to peek through the windows, which probably wasn't the best thing to do, and then staff basically rushed us to the back of the restaurant.

CABRERA: Noa, what did you hear, because other witnesses have reported hearing gunshots? Did you hear anything like that?

BODNER: No, because we are in a sort of loud cafe with music. We didn't hear anything. The people run in from the bridge were saying that they heard gunshots and that's all they knew at the time. Now, everybody is on social media and own their phones getting pieces of information, trying to understand what is exactly happening outside.

CABRERA: And what was it that prompted the restaurant to close up? Was it the people rushing in or did police come?

BODNER: No. I think this place has been here for years, and so they must have some sort of protocol. I think as soon as the manager heard that gunshots were heard by the people coming in, that they just went and locked the doors. And I think police might have come by here and told them to not to open them until further notice because a lot of police presence not inside here but out on the bridge.

CABRERA: Sure. What are you being told?

BODNER: Not much, like I said, because there's no, really, officially giving us information, everybody is just getting updates from social media and news.

[10:05:09]

CABRERA: Are you in a position in which --

BODNER: And all the (INAUDIBLE) is by the bridge, and a lot of police -- more police cars, people in sort of anti-terror gear running onto the bridge.

CABRERA: So you talk about anti-terror gear. Describe for me what that looks like.

BODNER: Oh, you know, assault rifles, helmets, helmets with possibly with cameras on them, all dressed in black balaclavas --

CABRERA: Have you seen anybody --

BODNER: Which is not something that you see -- I mean, normal police, they don't even carry guns and certainly not assault rifles, so -- but very unusual for Londoners.

CABRERA: Right. And have you seen anybody be detained? Because we were told from London Police that there was somebody in custody or detained.

BODNER: No, but what I assume is that, just like previous incidents, they are on top of things and from what we understand is that there was some sort of commotion, some sort of fight happening further up the bridge, which we now heard was somebody with a knife, basically, attacking people, and that police shot the attacker. But, again, this is all speculation, this is what we know from social media, because nobody in here actually was out there to see it.

CABRERA: And, Noa, we've talked about the incident that happened in 2017. People in the U.K. are no stranger to different types of attacks, terror attacks. We don't know what this is just yet, if there s any kind of terror nexus. But I imagine you're a little on guard and you're in a place where there are a lot of tourists. You mentioned cafe and sort of protocol and almost automatic reaction when something like this happens.

Talk to me about that sense of, you know, being there when something like this is triggered. What does that -- I guess what does it do to you?

BODNER: Personally, it is worrying because, you know, I'm also a mother and I walk these streets -- this is Central London, very busy, very touristy, where there're beautiful things to see. And we can't live our lives in constant fear just thinking where the next something or attack is going to come from because that's not very healthy. This is a beautiful city with so much to offer. And you have just to trust our forces, the police, that they know what they're doing.

And their response time is incredible, really. I mean, as soon as people ran in here, there was already -- police were already storming the bridge. So I don't feel unsafe, if that's what you're asking. I feel just as safe here as anywhere, if not, safer.

CABRERA: I'm glad to hear that. Noa Bodner, thank you very much for your describing for us what you've experienced this morning. It's morning, our time, afternoon, your time. We will be in touch with you.

In the meantime, let me bring in Peter Bergen, who is one of our terror analysts and national security analyst.

Peter, you have researched extensively terror networks. We don't, again, know if this is terror related. So I want to make sure we're clear about that. Very early reports here.

Our understanding is there was some stabbing that occurred, that a person is in custody and that multiple people have been injured. We know London ambulance is calling this a major incident.

And by all accounts, from talking to this eyewitness, it doesn't sound like whatever has happened is over yet.

PETER BERGEN, CNN NAITONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes. And, of course, there's great concern about this particular location, London Bridge, where two years ago there was a terrorist incident where eight people were killed on London Bridge and at the nearby Borough Market.

Interestingly, Ana, the British authorities had recently lowered the terrorism alert from severe to substantial. Severe means an attack is highly likely and substantial means that the risk is lower. So, indeed, this does turn out to be terrorism. British authorities will have to kind of explain why they so recently lowered the alert to that level.

That said, you know, ISIS has been largely defeated and the number of people who have been kind of radicalized by ISIS ideology I think, is lower. You've seen that in the United States where there are fewer incidents now. And I think, generally, in Europe, ISIS brand isn't quite what it was several years ago.

But that said, as you say, we don't know if it's terrorism.

[10:10:00]

It's interesting that the eyewitness talked about, you know, essentially heavily armed British tactical -- what she identified as potentially anti-terrorism units that stormed the bridge. But, you know, that could also mean that somebody that they consider dangerous whose motivation is still unknown.

But, you know -- and also, Ana, you may recall there was another incident on Westminster Bridge, a terrorist. So the fact that it's one of these kind of iconic places in London, you know, that could be a coincidence or if you want to make a statement of some kind, you go to one of these iconic places knowing that it's going to get more attention and more coverage.

CABRERA: Right. Real quickly, Peter, the weapon used, we're told there was a stabbing. Does that give you any clue or indication about what this is?

BERGEN Not really because we've seen -- you know, in London itself, we've seen terrorist attacks with people ramming a car into a crowd outside of North London Mosque. We've seen stabbings. We've seen vehicle attacks. We've seen, you know, bombings in Manchester. So the type of weapons, you know, it doesn't necessarily mean anything.

CABRERA: Okay. Peter Bergen, please stand by. We have to squeeze in a quick break. But we're going to stay on top of this story as we're working to gather more information about what exactly is taking place right now on London Bridge, where there is a high security presence, London ambulance calling it a major incident, multiple people injured after a stabbing and one person currently in custody, according to local police there.

We'll take a break and bring you the very latest information as soon as we come back.

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[10:15:00]

CABRERA: We are following breaking news out of London this hour. London Ambulance Service declaring a major incident on London Bridge. Police believe a number of people have been injured in a stabbing. Police also a man has been detained.

London Bridge is currently shut down, nearby railway stations also on lockdown, shopping areas have been cordoned off and doors closed.

Let's go back to CNN's Max Foster, who is gathering information about what's happening there. We still see a very large police presence on the scene. Max, what have you learned?

FOSTER: We do. And Prime Minister Boris Johnson has just said that he's been kept updated on the incident on London Bridge. That was just a few minutes ago. So this is clearly not over. It's a very serious incident, indeed, a major incident according to the Ambulance Service and certainly in terms of the police response, what we're seeing is a major response.

So when I last spoke to the anti-terror police in London, they very much took the view that they're going to err on the side of caution, so if they have an incident like this, they can overreact than underreact. So waiting to see what comes out of this. But the pure fact that we're not getting much information does suggest it's an ongoing incident.

We're also asking -- the Met Police are also appealing, really, to people to be careful what they share on social media. There are some pretty gruesome images going around, but they also don't want that to compromise their investigation either.

The last incident, Ana, we were talking about that earlier, how we've heard that a couple years ago, it got to a certain point where the Home Secretary brought in the elite forces, the SAS. They came in on a helicopter, you might remember, on to London Bridge. We haven't seen that quite yet. But it's a much more difficult situation because that was early in the morning, the roads were clearer.

What we have here is still many buses still trapped on the bridge. So whilst they evacuate the entire area, you can see that going on onscreen now, the police are trying to lock down the individual sites wherever they're investigating. There's clearly something ongoing.

We heard earlier from a BBC reporter that he clearly heard gunshots. We don't know whether they were the perpetrators or the police responding for the perpetrators. All we know is that a stabbing is the incident that they are investigating currently and there's been a big rise in knife crime. It's been a big story here in London in recent months. So it plays into that wider debate.

CABRERA: And on that, Max, is that knife crime, has it been in the past connected to any kind of terror tactic or strategy, or is it just random?

FOSTER: As the terror attacks have continued, they've become more rudimentary, and knives have become a bigger part of it. We don't have a gun culture in this country. The police on the beat around London don't carry guns with them. It's very hard to bring guns in. So a lot of gangs and a lot of terror groups have been looking to knives as the weapon of choice. And we've seen how it can cause terrible damage here in London and other parts of Europe.

But that's why we see knives as a major threat. And the mayor of London is also being kept abreast of the situation currently, his campaigned heavily on the problem of knife crime. And, of course, it's very, very difficult to police. We all have knives in our homes.

[10:20:00]

So that certainly is something that they're looking at currently and how they can restrict the presence of knives on the London streets.

CABRERA: Max, were there any changes or alterations made to security at London Bridge following that attack that happened back in 2017?

FOSTER: One of the major things that they did, a vehicle was involved and they've been involved in other bridge attacks here in London, they've put these big concrete bollards on the bridges to prevent cars from driving down the pavements.

We don't know if a car was involved in this, but it suggests that a car wasn't involved. This is very difficult to get a car careering down the bridge anymore. Truck is much very restricted to the traffic lanes on the bridges. And it would have been a very slow-moving on the bridge at that time, a very busy time for traffic in London, famously busy on a Friday afternoon when people are heading home from work early. They're heading off to Borough Market nearby, for example, having some drinks.

But also whilst this is a financial district, it's right on the edge of it and very close to a lot of the tourist sites, so there would have been tourists walking on the bridge as well as they came in for a weekend of tourism. So very concerning people for tourists, at the moment for tourists but also Londoners today.

CABRERA: Max, we don't have a lot of confirmed information, obviously. Only that there was a stabbing, that somebody was detained, that there are multiple people injured. What we can see with our own eyes though as we look at live pictures is there is heavy presence, emergency officials, police responding here.

But what's also interesting as we look at this video is there are people that seem to be passerbies just walking in front of the camera in between, our video crews as well as the police officers. They aren't running. There doesn't seem to be a sense of urgency with the people in that surrounding area. What does that tell you?

FOSTER: Well, it tells us that the police responded quickly and cleared people out of the area. I have to say, a lot of the stuff we've seen on social media, a lot it from journalists that I know as well, didn't describe a calm situation in the immediate aftermath of this incident. They talked about people being rushed off the bridge, people running out of pubs.

So I think the police have effectively locked down the area and now they're trying to get to the cause of the threat, and there currently is an ongoing threat. Otherwise, they would be tweeting that we're in control of the situation and things need to calm down.

They're very concerned, the police, about how this is portrayed in the media in the U.K., but also in the wilder world. They don't want these images going around the world because it obviously puts people off from coming to London. But they're aware of it and they feel for the safety of the people of London this is a price they're willing to pay. So there's clearly an ongoing threat that they're very concerned about.

CABRERA: Okay. Max Foster, please stand by. I want to brink in Paul Cruickshank.

And, Paul, this is obviously an ongoing incident. It is not over. What stands out to you?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Yes. The home secretary, Priti Patel, describing it as an ongoing incident suggests police are not confident that this is contained, that this is over yet. So a lot of concern at this hour hearing reports about stabbings. That is a tactic which has been used in ISIS-inspired attacks in the west in recent years.

But there's also a lot of knife crime in London, in the U.K. And so at this point, there are no specific indications that this is a terrorist attack but obviously we're in the very, very early stages of an investigation and they'll be looking at all possible scenarios here, police.

But this comes at time in the U.K. where U.K. Security Service has actually downgraded the terror threat level in the country from severe to substantial. That happened several weeks ago. That meant they thought an attack wasn't likely anymore, but now, likely. So they were still on alert, still looking for the potential that there could be terrorist plots and attacks in the U.K.

In 2017, in the month of June, there was a major terrorist attack in this very area, London Bridge, Borough Market. Eight people were killed. That was a car, a knife attack in that instance. There were three attackers. Not clear in this instance whether there was just one attacker, whether were multiple attackers, or whether this was a terrorist incident at this point. Authorities have not yet declared that to be the case.

CABRERA: Okay. Paul Cruickshank, CNN's Terrorist Analyst, thank you for that.

I do have some new information the Metropolitan Police just tweeting this moments ago. At this stage, the circumstances relating to the incident at London Bridge remain unclear. However, as a precaution, we are currently responding to this incident as though it is terror- related. Also, one man has been shot by police. We'll provide further information when possible.

That is the latest word now from Metropolitan Police in London as they continue to respond to an incident at London Bridge. Earlier, they tweeted that somebody was involved in a stabbing and that there were multiple injuries.

[10:25:01]

We're going to continue to stay on top of this story and bring you more information as we come back. Stay with us.

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CABRERA: Continuing to follow the breaking news out of London and an incident on London Bridge, what London officials are calling a major incident that they are now treating as a possible terror incident.

[10:30:01]

They don't have the specific detail just yet, but they say they are responding as if it is terror-related.