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Downtown Nashville Sealed Off After "Intentional" Explosion; White House: Trump Briefed on Nashville Explosion; U.S. to Require Negative COVID Tests from U.K. Travelers; World Celebrates a Christmas Like No Other During Pandemic. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired December 25, 2020 - 15:30   ET

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

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[15:31:10]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: Broken glass, burnt sidewalks and bowled over trees. Nashville's downtown was a scene of destruction this Christmas morning after a bomb exploded in what authorities are calling an intentional incident. Local, state and federal agencies have all deployed resources to focus on one mission, figure out who was responsible for the massive explosion.

Nashville police just put out this image of the RV that exploded this morning.

CNN security correspondent Josh Campbell is in Los Angeles.

This is the first time we're getting the image from the Nashville police, Josh, of that RV. They said that it was parked at 1:22 a.m. What more are they saying?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, we're getting that indication of exactly what they are looking for. We know that authorities have been crowd sourcing with the public, trying to gather any tips, any information people might have.

And this is important because now, this type of information is something that someone who was perhaps in the downtown area of Nashville that maybe saw a vehicle or saw a driver. It's hard to really conceptualize what they're talking about without the imagery, and here we see what authorities say was that vehicle that exploded.

It looks as though a standard class C motorhome. It looks like a Ford Econoline van on the front there, on the cab. But again, this is the vehicle that they think was parked and then later exploded.

Of course, so many questions surrounding this incident. We know just after 6:00 a.m., authorities arrived. They received a call of shots fired downtown, responding, and when they got there, they were met with something so bizarre, a voice on a recording saying that a bomb was going to go off in 15 minutes.

Authorities are quickly clearing that area trying to get people out, and obviously it did detonate, causing that mass destruction that you spoke about a minute earlier. But this is the image that federal authorities, local authorities have put out. They want to know if anyone saw this vehicle or has any tips, they want to hear from you.

The FBI has set up a special website. They are also asking people to call 1-800-CALLFBI if they have any information at all. That will be part of this investigation to try to determine the identity of this driver so they can locate this person.

They don't know whether this person perished inside that explosion or whether this person is at large, but they want to hear from the public with any tips, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: And this likely coming from surveillance footage and cameras that are throughout the downtown area. Authorities said they would be going through all of that footage to see if there was any indication of who the driver was and if they could identify the RV. It appears that they have, and we will be following this story and trying to trace back whether this was an RV that was rented or who the owner of the car was.

In terms of what we've heard from authorities there and from the police chief who said that they are sweeping the downtown area just as a precaution, but they do not believe that there are other devices in the area. What does that tell you about their level of confidence that this was a one-time incident?

CAMPBELL: Yeah, they're doing those protective sweeps using canines, bomb-sniffing canines, just to have that confidence that this wasn't someone who is perhaps trying to cause an incendiary incident, draw people in, draw in first responders, and then possibly a secondary device go off. And so, they have to take those precautions. They are saying now that they don't believe -- they have no information that leads them to believe there are additional devices but they're not going to give that all clear until they do that full search.

Also, we also know that these buildings, look at that destruction, is unsound. They are keeping people away. This crime scene will take days and weeks to process. We can't lose sight of this, sometimes a key part of an investigation could be something as tiny as a centimeter, some piece of a timing device, some piece of the incendiary device that they find locally there in the immediate area, or sometimes blocks away.

[15:35:10]

So, they're going to be combing that entire area, looking for every shred of evidence they can.

GOLODRYGA: That destruction is just massive and our hats off and praise to those first responders who clearly saved many lives as they had 15 minutes to clear the area.

Josh Campbell, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

CAMPBELL: Thanks, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Well, the White House says President Trump has been briefed on the events out of Nashville.

Let's get straight to CNN's Jeremy Diamond on West Palm Beach.

Jeremy, any word from the president on this event as of now?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, no, not directly, but we do have a statement from the White House. They say indeed the president was briefed today while he was at his golf course. He was there for about five hours today, but as he was there amid rounds of golf, perhaps, it appears the president was informed of this explosion.

This is a statement from Judd Deere, who's the deputy White House secretary. He says, quote: President Trump has been briefed on the explosion in Nashville, Tennessee, and will continue to receive regular updates. He also said the president is grateful for the incredible first responders and praying for those who are injured.

Now, there was a question of whether we might hear from the president later today. He perhaps during this address to the troops, the president, though, taking to Twitter to say he was going to be addressing service members, military service members today on Christmas, but he was not going to invite the news media to photograph and record his remarks, which has been tradition for several years now.

Instead the president staying behind closed doors for the rest of the day. The White House press office just informed us we have a lid for the day, which means if all goes according to plan, that we will no longer see or hear from the president other than, perhaps, through his Twitter feed.

GOLODRYGA: Well, when he addresses the troops, it would be a good time to say he's going to sign the Defense Authorization Act, which he has yet to do as well, and obviously our service men and women need that funding.

Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much.

And up next, the United States begins cracking down on travelers from the United Kingdom as a new variant of coronavirus spreads overseas.

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GOLODRYGA: The U.S. says it will now require a negative COVID test for air passengers flying to the U.S. from the United Kingdom over concerns about a variant of the coronavirus that may be more contagious. That means anyone entering the U.S. must have a negative PCR or antigen test within 72 hours of boarding their flight.

Selma Abdelaziz is in London with for more on this.

So, Selma, how is this actually going to work?

SELMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's the complicated part. It really is, Bianna.

So, just to break down, first of all, what this new variant is that they're concerned about, and to give you a sense of the time here because there is a bit of a lag in the decision making. A week ago, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced there is a variant here in London and infected areas that is up to 20 percent more transmissible.

Now, there is no evidence that it is immune to the vaccine in any way, although experts have concerns about the difficulty in vaccinating against it. So, of course, it's a matter of concern to the United States. But 40 countries, over 40 countries have already put in restrictions over these last several days. So the United States is really late to the party on this one.

It is not that easy to get a test here. I can tell you here in London if I wanted to get tested, I would either have to have symptoms of coronavirus and have to book that through the National Health Service, or I would have to go pay $200 to go and get it done at a private clinic.

So it's not going to be an easy thing to carry out, and it does ultimately mean that a lot less people will be able to move between these two countries, and that's really important for the U.K., because just yesterday a Brexit deal was announced. That is a vital flow, that is a vital trading partner that they want with the United States.

So yet again, being cut off with these coronavirus infections in the two countries -- Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, the U.K. isolated more than ever really because of it, and I know the government is sending 800 more personnel to help out near the port of Dover to carry out coronavirus tests for haulers waiting to cross the channel into France.

You just talked about the short supply of testing. How bad is the backup at the border at this point?

ABDELAZIZ: Bianna, I was at the border for several days. I just left yesterday. And it was absolutely scenes of chaos, thousands upon thousands of truckers just for miles long. They were turning parts of the highway into parking lots. They were converting airstrips into essentially huge locations to keep all of these drivers.

It has now moved along. Over 4,000 drivers have now crossed, so that backlog is starting to ease. But it's important to remember that these are drivers who spent the better part of three or four days, essentially, living on the streets with no access to sanitation, food or water for most of them, and really, in this country, I think those images reminded everybody of the importance of having that connections with the E.U., the importance of having these relationships.

You can see how the coronavirus is really cutting countries off from each other -- Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: It is bittersweet and what a terrible way to spend Christmas day. Selma Abdelaziz, thank you, as always.

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We appreciate it.

We're following breaking news in Nashville, an explosion on Christmas morning sending debris flying into the streets. We have new information on what happened seconds before the powerful blast.

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GOLODRYGA: On this Christmas Day, as people across the globe observe the holiday, church services look very different as the world continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic.

Joining me now is Reverend Russell Levenson of St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston, the largest Episcopal Church in North America. He's also an author, "Preparing Room: An Advent Companion".

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Reverend, merry Christmas to you. Thank you so much for joining me today.

We should note that you and I have met a few years ago as I was covering the funerals of former First Lady Barbara Bush and later, President George H.W. Bush. They were active members at the church for more than 50 years.

I want to talk about being a spiritual adviser to a president in just a moment, but let's begin with the holiest of days for Christians. What does Christmas without a massive choir singing and hundreds of people gathered together look like? I would imagine you learned a lot from Easter.

REV. RUSSELL LEVENSON, RECTOR, ST. MARTIN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH HOUSTON: We did. Well, Easter, we didn't have services in church. It was so close to the beginning of the pandemic. But last night, we've actually been having services now for a couple months, very respectful of the distance between people.

We require masks. We also have sanitation stations everywhere. And yesterday, we had six services. We have a pretty cavernous space, so we can fit about 200 in the space that normally holds 1,200.

But everyone was respectful of one another. And we, again, we had about 1,200 people in six services. But I think the thing that mattered the most to those people was the opportunity just to come and be back together with each other and the place where they worship week after week.

And it was very touching. There were a lot of tears. And a lot of people really felt at peace to be back in their space again.

GOLODRYGA: You shared part of your sermon with me, and in it, you write, for many of us, some form of our Christmas plans with family and friends have crumbled apart. We will pass the peace in a moment, but there will be no handshakes or hugs. Just waves from a distance. The loneliness is palpable.

What is your advice to people as they look to get through this last week of 2020 and try to stay positive and healthy?

LEVENSON: Right. Well, it would be horrible if I ended the sermon with that word you just shared, but I didn't. I think we can all feel the loneliness, we're tired of the loneliness, but I think our coming together was a reminder of how much we do miss each other and need each other and how much we need God.

I think the real message of Christmas, of course, is that God came to be among us in the Child Jesus to remind us that we're not alone. So, I spent a lot of time yesterday kind of unpacking from that point you just lifted off from by reminding people, absolutely, we need each other in the time right now.

But we need God. And we need to spend some time making sure, you know, all this stuff we have done in the last several months to make space in our life, I think I shared with you that we have all cleaned out closets and drawers and attics and things like that, but have we made enough space in our lives for, in my case, for Jesus Christ to come and take up residence, and for my Jewish friends and Muslim friends, I think we should all be kind of pausing right now to ask whether or not we're connecting with the one who really enables us to connect with each other.

GOLODRYGA: And as someone who is a spiritual adviser and knew the Bush family so intimately, you look at what happened in Nashville today just as an example of what a president has to deal with in terms of being a consoler in chief. Thankfully, there was no loss of life here, but we would anticipate, unfortunately, that presidents have to deal with these types of scenarios. And I'm wondering what lessons you can tell us from your time with President Bush and perhaps how you view a President Biden will be connecting his spirituality with consoling a nation as well.

LEVENSON: Yeah. Well, our friendship, that of my wife and my friendship with the president and his lovely first lady lasted about 11 years. And it was the last years of their lives. And what I saw in him was a gift that is so crucial in leadership, and that was empathy. Not just sympathy but empathy, the ability to feel the pain of others.

And you know, one of the things that struck me about our relationship with them, and we were with them in tough times, as you know, and in wonderful, happy times. You never heard either of them say anything negative about another person, ever. And they were always interested in how others were doing, how others felt, and if there was a crisis in the world, their immediate reaction was concern.

And I think today, when we hear about Nashville, the first thing we do is stop, pause, pray. And then again, we had that hunger to be connected, as I shared with you a moment ago, I have family in Nashville, and the first thing we do is pause and check on family. I do think -- I appreciate the fact that the president-elect has

talked a lot about calling to serve not just to be served. And he said again and again throughout his campaign and now that he's president- elect, it's not enough just to speak good words or speak good news but to actually follow up by doing good things.

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And you know, it is important, I think, that we do good things. And I do think our president-elect knows suffering. And people in my business call people who know the kind of suffering he has known and the death of family members, we call those wounded healers. And I'm praying for our wounded healer.

GOLODRYGA: And he refers to that constantly in using that to bring the nation together.

Reverend Russell Levenson, friend, good to see you. Merry Christmas to you. Best to your family. Thank you so much.

LEVENSON: God bless.

GOLODRYGA: And more on our breaking news. An explosion in Nashville damages buildings and a warning may have saved countless lives. The city's vice mayor joins CNN live in just a moment.

Anderson Cooper picks up our special coverage after this short break.

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