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Berlin Pride Car Ramming; Wildfires Force Mass Evacuations; Possible Escalation. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired July 26, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

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BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, wherever you are in the world. You are now in the CNN Newsroom with me, Ben Hunte, in Atlanta, and it is so good to have you with me.

Coming up on the show, a van rams participants in Berlin's famous pride parade, killing one person and injuring more than a dozen. What police are saying about a suspect.

Nearly a quarter of a million people have been evacuated in parts of Spain and France as wildfires continue to spread.

The U.S. says its naval blockade of Iranian ports remains in full effect. What the White House is saying about a possible escalation in that conflict.

Welcome. German police have issued a wanted notice for a suspect with ties to Islamist extremists. That was after a van plowed into a crowd at Berlin's LGBTQ pride celebrations, killing one person. They have asked for help from the public now in the search for 21-year-old Abdul B. He is described as having a slim build and black hair, seeing a photo there, and was last seen wearing a black hoodie and white trousers too.

First responders confirmed the death toll and added 16 others were injured in the incident. Police say some were apparently stabbed. The area surrounding Berlin's popular Tiergarten Park was immediately evacuated following the ramming, and pride celebrations across the German capital were canceled. The incident came just hours after hundreds of thousands of people jammed Berlin's streets for one of Europe's largest and longest running LGBTQ celebrations. Berlin's mayor says his city will not be intimidated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAI WEGNER, BERLINE MAYOR: I can only say that Berlin, as a city of freedom and diversity, will continue to stand strong and make its position clear. We will not allow anyone to take away our way of life or the way we live together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: CNN's Fred Pleitgen has more from the scene in Berlin for us.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is as close as we're going to get to the scene of that ramming that took place in the German capital, Berlin.

Now, the authorities are saying that all this happened at shortly before 10:00 P.M. in the evening on Saturday night on the sidelines of a pride event that happened here in the German capital, which is a big event here in the German capital, Berlin.

If we get a little closer, if we pan over there, we can see just how big the response has been on the part of the authorities. There's dozens of ambulances here, police vehicles also forensic vehicles as well. If we pan a little bit to the right, you can see that there's a big tent over there. We have seen some people come out of that wrapped in tin foil blankets.

It's unclear whether or not they might have been some of the people who were injured in that ramming. The authorities are saying that well over a dozen people were injured, some of them with life-threatening injuries, and as of right now, at least one person has been confirmed to have been killed.

Now, the authorities are saying that there is a big manhunt that's going on right now for the people who were driving a white van that plowed into a crowd on the sidelines of that event. It later apparently hit a tree and came to a standstill, but, again, wounding and injuring a lot of people on the way.

One of the things that we've been observing here over the past couple of days in Berlin is that the authorities have been taking great precaution to set up barricades to prevent exactly something like this from happening. This is obviously a massive event that took place in the German capital with hundreds of thousands of people attending.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

HUNTE: For more, I want to bring in Anastasia Tikhomirova. She's a journalist with German newspaper, DIE ZEIT. Thank you so much for being with us.

You were at the pride event until just a few hours before this incident. Looking back, was there anything that stood out to you?

ANASTASIA TIKHOMIROVA, JOURNALIST, DIE ZEIT: Hi, good morning. No, not really. It was an extremely peaceful event. It was a huge party, but also political event as every year, and I really enjoyed being there. So, there have been some provocations from some right-wingers on the side of the protest, but it was just a dozen of people and they were and they were asked by the police to leave. I witnessed the event myself, but in general the entire event went extremely peaceful.

[03:05:02]

I had the impression that it's also well-protected and I myself had to leave due to work duties. So, no, I didn't witness anything suspicious.

HUNTE: And while you're just speaking there, we are seeing some live pictures from what looks to be the scene in Berlin there. We are seeing the van, and we're seeing a tree that it looks like it did smash into. And we're obviously going to bring you more from the scene as we do get it.

We have heard that there were thousands of police officers at the event. From what you saw, did people seem to feel safe? Did you feel safe?

TIKHOMIROVA: I didn't feel safe for sure. There was one moment when I thought, what happens if an attacker does something now? But I think these are the thoughts you always have at like mass events nowadays, unfortunately. But, in general, no, I didn't I didn't assume that something awful like this might happen on this day.

HUNTE: What are your thoughts about this happening so late in the day compared to when you were there? Because I'm guessing that even though there were still events coming up later on in the evening, a lot of the big stuff did happen earlier on, right?

TIKHOMIROVA: Excuse me, could you repeat the last question, please?

HUNTE: Yes. So, was there a bigger event happening earlier in the day, or were there still events to come later on?

TIKHOMIROVA: Usually the pride is a celebration that lasts until midnight or even later. And what surprises me is that the last the last passage of the entire pride is the most and best protected because there is this huge street, (INAUDIBLE), where you only have the park and where no car can pass.

On the other part, at the other part of the pride, it was directly through the city, so cars could have passed by if they wanted to, but they didn't. So, right now, it's hard to say why the attacker decided to condone his attack late in the night.

HUNTE: Yes. Because just looking at those pictures, it does seem very crowded earlier in the day. How likely is this attack to change security for Pride events across Germany and the rest of Europe, too, do you think?

TIKHOMIROVA: I think it's difficult to say right now as the event was protected very well. But, for sure, there will be a sort of debate, like it was almost ten years ago, after the attack on the Breitscheidplatz. There an Islamist attacker, Anis Amri, killed 13 people ramming his car into a Christmas market in West Berlin.

After this, a huge debate evolved how to protect Christmas markets better, and I think this debate will evolve in the upcoming days as many people also feel reminded of the attack that happened almost ten years ago in December 2016.

HUNTE: And just a reminder to our viewers that those pictures you were seeing there are live images from the scene. What sort of reactions have there been to the suspect being identified but not yet being arrested?

TIKHOMIROVA: What I hear so far is that many people are worried and also very solidary, try to help to find him. His images and the police call to send in any hint that might find help him are being shared widely among social media. Yes, so this is one sort of reaction.

At the same time, people don't want that their pride, their joy are being taken away. So, the CSD Berlin, they canceled one event for pride that was planned for this morning, but at the same time, there's another event that is happening today. It's a morning event. At 2:00 P.M. at Brandenburger Tor, people will gather and will memorize the victims and everyone who is affected and stand in solidarity with everyone who is affected. So, yes, people don't want to be divided, and they stand together.

HUNTE: Well, we're so glad that you're here with us, and we appreciate your time. Anastasia Tikomirova, thank you so much for joining us, and please stay safe.

TIKHOMIROVA: Thank you.

HUNTE: Spain and France are battling raging wildfires that have forced at least 250,000 people from their homes.

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Spanish officials say at least one person has now died in the eastern city of Valencia. The man was trapped in his car.

Firefighters are working to prevent two fires from merging near Madrid. A third blaze in Avila province is close to joining them as strong winds drive those flames.

In neighboring France, fast-moving wildfires are now prompting new evacuation orders in the country's southwest. Nearly 200,000 people from the Gironde and Landes regions have been forced to flee.

For more now, we are joined by CNN Senior International Correspondent Melissa Bell in France. Good to see you, Melissa.

Can you just start by setting the scene for us? What are conditions like where you are this morning, and what are you hearing around the region?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, where I'm standing is to the south of the biggest fire that France is battling right now here in Gironde. And this particular village, Lege-Cap- Ferret, has been turned into the sort of command and control center, and has been now for several days, to the south of the major fire as firefighters try and contain it, which hasn't been possible yet.

You'll remember that on Friday, the Cap-Ferret Peninsula was entirely evacuated. That's because this village from where I'm speaking marks the end of that peninsula. A single road out, the 40,000 people had to be evacuated because the threat from the fire was that it would entirely cut off the peninsula with all of those holidaymakers on it.

Then you had those further evacuations over the course of Friday into Saturday. We met a bunch of those people who essentially received text messages and are now being held in places like exhibition centers on cots with their children, families, elderly people, pets all huddled together and waiting on news about their homes and when they can actually get back there.

And a lot of those people were evacuated from here towards Bordeaux in the middle of the night. All of the villages we've just driven through entirely evacuated. It's a really eerie feeling. And here, as the firemen get ready to continue their shifts going into the fire, you can smell the smoke from it.

And as you can see, maybe it's a little bit windy still here this morning, so the conditions are pretty bad, and they were bad throughout the night. What that means, Ben, is that we've had that fire, the big one, now grow. It has now burned 42,000 hectares. We were at about 32,000 yesterday at about the same hour. And there have been further evacuations overnight. 55,000 extra people were evacuated slightly to the south of where I'm standing, which means that overall there is 220,000 people who've been evacuated here in the Gironde region as a result of the fire.

So, difficult conditions this morning, there's quite a bit of wind, it's still pretty hot, and that fire continues to rage beyond the control of the firemen. Ben?

HUNTE: Okay. Melissa Bell, thank you so much for that update. We appreciate it. Speak to you again later, I'm sure.

And now to the Middle East, where the war with Iran may be spreading beyond the Gulf.

Video shows smoke rising near an oil facility along Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast, which the Houthis claim to have hit on Saturday. The Iranian-backed rebel group in Yemen says it carried out two military operations using dozens of missiles and drones. This all comes a day after Saudi Arabia launched strikes in retaliation for Houthi attacks on commercial ships.

The U.S. military is enforcing its blockade of Iranian ports. It says U.S. forces boarded a tanker in the Arabian Sea on Saturday to verify it was in compliance before allowing it to continue its journey. Since re-imposing the blockade earlier this month, the U.S. military has redirected 12 commercial ships and disabled two others that didn't comply with the blockade.

And now to the occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces used tear gas and arrested dozens of Palestinians on Saturday.

This happened in the village of Tell, where just a day earlier, clashes left four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers dead. On the orders of the prime minister, the Israeli military began preparing for a large-scale operation, canceling leave and getting ready to send in reinforcements. A paramedic described how people in the village are now feeling.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People here are scared of what happened yesterday, noting that around eight houses were set on fire in the village, and vehicles as well. So, people started taking precautions and buying fire extinguishers and first aid kits to be able to tend to the incidents until the needed services and paramedics arrive.

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HUNTE: But some Israelis are coming together to condemn settler assaults on Palestinians in the West Bank. Here's a look at Tel Aviv on Saturday, filled with people chanting and carrying eye-catching signs.

The deadly Friday incident in the West Bank came amid a marked escalation in settler attacks in the territory.

[03:15:05]

The U.N. has called for urgent action to stop that violence.

Ukraine's president says Russia is preparing an expanded mobilization of troops to fight in Ukraine this fall. Volodymyr Zelenskyy says 30,000 troops will come from North Korea, and he says Moscow is preparing to also receive several North Korean ballistic missile launchers.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: This is a threat not only to Ukraine. Russia is helping North Korea learn how to wage war, improve its weapons, and gain real combat experience in using them. All of this poses a threat to every country in Asia that lies within range of North Korean missiles.

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HUNTE: Moscow is accusing Ukraine of an attack that killed 12 people, including four children, at a holiday camp in Russian-occupied Southeastern Ukraine. Kyiv has not responded to those accusations, but says it did hit Russian oil facilities as well as a ship carrying military goods from Iran to Russia.

All right, Ryan Fox can still hardly believe how he made history last week on the greens. Just ahead, CNN goes one-on-one with the champ about his triumph at golf's legendary open.

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HUNTE: Welcome back. After gaining millions of fans with his standout World Cup performance, Cape Verde Goalkeeper Vozinha has signed with one of South America's biggest football clubs. Chilean club Colo Colo say the 40-year-old will travel to Santiago for routine medical checks before an official presentation at their stadium.

Vozinha made thrilling saves in three straight group stage matches at the World Cup, holding opponents, including the eventual tournament winner, Spain, to scoreless draws.

It is a week since New Zealand Golfer Ryan Fox captured the Open, his first major championship. The 39-year-old is now the owner of one of the most famous trophies in the world.

CNN World Sport's Patrick Snell caught up with the new champ, who is still hugging that Claret Jug.

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RYAN FOX, 2026 OPEN CHAMPION: This is the real one, so I get to keep this for a year. I have a replica one, which I can see on the other side of our kitchen, which I get to keep for lifetime, which is pretty awesome. So, yes, like, you can see the golfer on the front is apparently what you've got to present for all the photos and stuff like that. It's got all the names. I mean, the engraving on it is incredible.

You know, to have this trophy in my hands is unbelievable, to be honest. Yes, like I'm not sure exactly what it means yet. I s- I'm still trying to process it. It's pretty, pretty crazy, to be honest, and I can see my name just down here at the bottom for 2026 at Royal Birkdale. So, I'm definitely not going to get sick of watching that, that's for sure.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: I wonder, dare I say, what did you have a sip of, and how good did it taste?

FOX: There was plenty of red wine that poured out of the Claret Jug on Sunday night, so it's all clean in there, I think, at the moment. So, yes, it was a lot of fun. I had a lot of people around me that I'm close to, and it was great to share that moment with them. And, yes, that's pretty cool that I'm going to be able to get to share it with a lot of people going forward, and I can safely say there's probably going to be a bit more red wine drank out of it over the next year or so.

SNELL: Oh, thank you so much. Listen, a birdie to win the Open. You had a birdie putt to win the Open, I wonder what goes surging through your mind, both as you're preparing to make that putt, and as it now, that historic putt, as it actually drops, as you drain that putt.

FOX: I'm not sure how I hit that putt straight, like I was so nervous just trying to focus on hitting it somewhere near the hole. It did dawn on me before the putt that this was a putt to win the Open, and I had to kind of collect myself in that moment and just try to focus on what I could control, which was hitting the ball at that point and trying to hit it, trying to hit it good speed.

And, yes, like, I took a couple of deep breaths before I hit the putt and just got up there, you know, did my routine even though I was pretty quick. And then to see the ball have a chance of going in, like three or four foot out, and then to see it, you know, catch that left side and go in, I mean, it's -- words can't describe what it feels like in that moment, like I let everything out. The reaction to hear it go in is the most incredible thing I've ever heard. The crowd was unbelievable, and I can't say that enough. Like the whole support coming down those last few holes, I felt like the English crowd really got behind me.

It was just incredible to feel all of that on that 18th hole. And then the rest of it's just a whirlwind, to be honest. I don't really know really what happened over the next few hours, and I'm -- it's going to take quite a bit to process, in general, what went on on that Sunday.

SNELL: Just a massive roar when, but you mentioned the words pretty quick. You're not kidding, 22 seconds to line up and drain that winning putt for your first career major. You play so quickly, let's be honest. Others in the game don't by comparison. Tell us why that's so important to you, why it works for you.

FOX: I just think it fits me, like I tend to do everything quite quickly. Like even going back to doing exams at school, like I'd finish them really quickly, I either knew the answer or I didn't, and that was kind of it really. I see a shot quickly, I tend to make a decision quickly. I'm kind of the opinion in golf too that that side of it's not that difficult.

To actually see a shot, to make a decision isn't the hardest bit of the game. It's the execution that's the hard bit, and trying to get out of your own way and get out of your own head to do it. So, that's just kind of how it works in my head. And I'm really proud of myself for keeping true to that coming down the stretch for being me, for doing my routine, for whatever you want to call it.

[03:25:04]

You know, some guys would call it too quick or whatever, but that's just me. That's my routine, and I stuck to it. And, you know, obviously, I came out on the right side of it.

SNELL: 39 years of age, this is golf's oldest major, the famed Claret Jug. I wonder, it means so much to you, as you've just been outlining, but also to the people of New Zealand as well. How so?

FOX: Look, I mean, we're a small country. I think we punch well above our weight in sport in general, and we're doing pretty well in golf at the moment, but it's going to be huge for golf in New Zealand. I've, you know, seen a little bit of media. I've done quite a bit of media back home already, and the reception has just been unbelievable, to be honest.

I can't put that into words what that feels like. And, you know, hearing, you know, people say that, you know, it's the best sporting moment in New Zealand, like I'm not sure I believe that. You know, it's obviously recency bias, but it's pretty incredible, I think, the impact it's had in New Zealand already, and I'm looking forward to taking this little thing behind me back home on a little bit of a tour when I get a chance and share it with friends and family and, you know, golf clubs and various other things in New Zealand because I think that'll be very, very special and something that I won't get tired of very quickly at all.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: It was a bull run Florida style. Bearded Ernest Hemingway lookalikes dressed in crisp white outfits and red berets took over Key West on Saturday, rolling wooden bulls through the streets. It was a playful nod to Spain's Running of the Bulls and the author's love of Spanish culture. This quirky tradition, now in its 45th year, is part of Key West's Hemingway Days. It's a celebration of one of its most famous residents and patrons too. Well, isn't that fun?

All right, that's all I've got for you. Thanks for joining me and the team. I'm Ben Hunt in Atlanta. Quest's World of Wonder is next. Then there's more CNN Newsroom at the top of the hour.

I will see you tomorrow.

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