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Quest Means Business

Christmas Market Terror Attack; Fallout from Aleppo; Dow Fails to Reach 20K. Aired 4-4:30p ET

Aired December 21, 2016 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST: The Dow has closed lower for the first time this week. And the market is now shut. We are giving you the business news in

a moment. We, of course, begin with the events in Berlin.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

Our breaking news tonight in the search for the suspect in the Berlin Christmas market attack. He has been named by the authorities as a

Tunisian man, Anis Amri, who is said to be 24 years old. German authorities have issued a wanted notice for him. And they`re offering up

to $105,000 for any information leading to his arrest.

However, the authorities are warning, the police says that Amri could be violent and armed. Now the suspect arrived in Germany in July of last

year, he had been arrested in August and then released.

According to raids conducted on Wednesday, North Rhine Westphalia region where the suspect had been living. The German police now suspect that this

was all linked to a pro-ISIS network that`s operating in Germany. However, it is all very early on in the investigation as the German authorities are

mentioning and stressing.

You`ll recall that, after the attack, the initial suspect, who was arrested on Monday night, shortly who was said to have run away from the truck, was

then released because there wasn`t any evidence that he was involved in the attack.

So now this new suspect has been identified after documents were found inside the cabin of the lorry used in Monday`s attack. This is the way

Germany`s interior minister put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS DE MAIZIERE, GERMAN INTERIOR MINISTER (through translator): There`s a new suspect. The suspect is being hunted down. I would like to say,

just like all the others have said, this is a suspect and not necessarily the perpetrator. Investigations are continuing in all directions. All

traces are being looked at and this suspect has been on a wanted list since midnight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Hala Gorani is in Berlin.

Hala, we need to take this slowly, point by point. So the first suspect released yesterday has nothing to do with it at all, we now believe. But

this chap, tell me what we know about him.

HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right, you went through some of the main points. We know that he arrived in Germany in July 2015, we know that

he`s been traveling between North Rhine Westphalia, the region where he was initially based, and Berlin for several months. So this is someone who is

highly mobile.

We know he applied for political asylum. He`s a Tunisian national and we know that political asylum was rejected. We know, however, that even

though he was ordered deported -- because the authorities here were not able to establish with certainty his identity because he had so many false

passports -- Tunisian authorities were not able to cooperate with German authorities in this deportation process.

Then we know that, in August of this year, he was arrested, he also had forged paperwork, trying to make his way to Italy but we understand that,

at that point, a judge ordered or allowed his release.

And we know that, several months later, taking us to two days ago, authorities believe he was linked to this terrorist attack at the Christmas

market. So that`s what we know.

The other thing that`s important is this is not a man believed to have come -- and this is important -- with the recent flow of refugees. This is a

man believed to have spent many, many years in Italy and several of those years in prison in Italy. So this is not a recent arrival in Europe --

Richard.

QUEST: You`ve just beautifully anticipated what my question was going to be, Hala, because obviously the -- he`s not part of, if you like, this mass

refugee exodus to Europe, predicated by Syria.

GORANI: No, but he is believed to be linked to a terrorist network sympathetic to ISIS or linked to ISIS that had been operating in Germany

for several months whose leader, nickname Abu Wala (ph), was arrested and charged with terrorism-related offenses in November.

And it`s believed that this particular network managed to send a few fighters to ISIS-controlled territory in the Middle East. So it`s believed

that connection exists. We don`t know that he went, we don`t think he did. We don`t think this man ever traveled to Syria or Iraq.

But we believe he was somehow linked to a network that tried to organize this type of attack.

QUEST: All right. But we may not know this yet, did the authorities know that he had --

[16:05:00]

QUEST: -- these links to the pro-ISIS network?

Or is this only just coming to their attention now?

GORANI: They`re not saying the pro-ISIS network; that`s something they are not confirming. They are saying that he had known links to radical

organizations, that he was under surveillance, that he was considered a risk.

Richard, this is going to really lead to many, many questions in this country.

People will and perhaps some might say rightfully, ask, if you can`t protect us from this type of guy, who can you protect us from?

This was someone supposed to be deported months ago and wasn`t deported. And this was something caught with forged ID papers trying to make his way

to Italy. This is a guy who security services knew about.

And then, for some reason or another, he slipped through the net and they say they believe he was connected to this attack. And now he`s on the

loose, he`s not even arrested, which means that someone who committed this act potentially is armed and dangerous and out there.

And rightfully people might say this is something that`s very scary and they would like some explanation for that.

QUEST: Hala, you have anticipated all the remaining of my questions, thank you, and put it beautifully into context --

GORANI: I know you well.

QUEST: Well, thank you. Hala Gorani in Berlin.

And she has indeed succinctly and elegantly given us the scenario of the situation that we`re going to talk about throughout the course of this

hour. This man who, clearly known to the authorities, known to have certain terrorist or sympathetic links, had been arrested, had forged

documents, had been released.

And perhaps legitimately it is now to ask how on Earth he was managing to be on the loose. Now officials say more than 800 people from Germany have

gone to join ISIS and other jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq. Around 270 have returned and more than a quarter of those are believed to have been

involved to fighting or have received paramilitary training.

There`s mounting concern among officials that radicalized people in Germany may be in touch with ISIS, awaiting orders to strike, which brings us to

Hassan Hassan, resident fellow of Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, co-author of "ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror."

He joins me from Washington.

Now, Hassan, you were listening to Hala Gorani there and when we say he had links to a pro-ISIS network, decode that for me into plain English that

I`ll understand.

HASSAN HASSAN, TAHRIR INSTITUTE FOR MIDDLE EAST POLICY: Well to me, sounds like a sympathizer with some links, I mean, German authorities are only

saying that he has links with the preacher, Abu Allah (ph), which Hala just mentioned.

So Abu Allah (ph) is the known -- he was arrested by the German authorities for links with Al Qaeda -- this suspect`s links to that preacher could be

just someone who goes frequently to his mosque or meets him or something like that.

QUEST: All right.

HASSAN: And he might have been inspired by his calls for supporting ISIS.

QUEST: So is it your, you have experience of all of this, is it your feeling that he decided to do this on his own volition or -- is an e-mail,

a phone call or a message sent to people like him?

It`s time to do something?

Even if not the instructions what to do.

HASSAN: No, in fact there were public instructions by ISIS about two years ago specifically and explicitly calling for sympathizers across the world,

especially in countries where there`s involvement against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, military involvement. And the call was one of the items on the list

is for sympathizers to use trucks and cars to drive into crowded areas.

QUEST: But it wasn`t, in your view, organized as such (INAUDIBLE) or any of them of the ISIS hierarchy who would have said, OK, it`s Tuesday, it`s

Monday, it`s time to do an attack in X.

HASSAN: No. I think this a person who planned this on his own, probably with the help of someone else. But it doesn`t matter because there was a

call and this technique that ISIS has perfected or called for, there was even tutorials about how to do such things because -- and ISIS --

(CROSSTALK)

QUEST: OK, but -- I`m just going to interrupt you, before we move on. I just want to link that to the attack -- it wasn`t an attack; it was the

assassination and murder of the Russian ambassador in Turkey, where similar, you know, remember Aleppo, remember refugees, in that situation --

[16:10:00]

QUEST: -- where does that fit into the whole bigger picture?

HASSAN: So we see the events in Syria and Iraq have become linked to these kinds of people like outside Syria and Iraq, who are instructed by ISIS and

other groups to do something about what`s happened in Syria and Iraq.

So a person who sympathizes with ISIS and hears the message that you can actually drive a car into crowded areas or stab someone and so on and so

forth would drive someone like that to do the thing.

The case in Ankara, I think, is different because that was maybe a kind of a response by someone who is not (INAUDIBLE) like linked to any groups or

respond in the name of any group and he wanted to act against Russia, which was seen as the new bully in the Middle East.

And he wanted to kind of revenge and take revenge against Russia.

QUEST: Sir, thank you for joining us.

HASSAN: Thank you.

QUEST: Germany has taken in more refugees than any other European country, more than a million over the past two years. Most of them are coming from

Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan. Now the chancellor, Angela Merkel, has been a strong proponent of taking in refugees. She faces a growing backlash over

that policy.

Julian Reischelt (ph) is editor and chief of Bild Digital, joins me now live from Berlin.

Julian, we talked earlier in the week, it was. I want to read you the headline from this morning`s "New York Times," you may have already seen

it. It`s the main story. Picture Angela Merkel on the front page and it says, "Market rampage puts chancellor in perilous spot; critics waiting to

pounce."

Do you agree with that assessment of the chancellor`s predicament?

JULIAN REISCHELT (PH), BILD DIGITAL: Richard, I think there will be a huge debate triggered by this about Merkel`s policy, about her refugee policy

but what we have to say here and I have to point out here is this is yesterday`s assessment when everyone was still looking at that young guy of

Pakistani decent who came here with the refugee wave that was triggered by Merkel`s policy.

That guy is now released and the suspect we`re looking at now of Tunisian background has spent many years here in Europe. He wasn`t part of Merkel`s

refugee policy, he didn`t come here on that policy. He was here earlier.

And so I believe there will be a debate but, as of now, it`ll be more about security, about antiterrorism measures in this country than about Merkel`s

refugee policy. If this remains the only suspect and perpetrator of this attack and we don`t see any additional perpetrators who came here on

Merkel`s policy.

QUEST: Well, isn`t that a sort of -- however true, Julian, that is, isn`t that sort of a sophisticated argument that will get lost in the mass media

because many of the populist trends that we`ve seen will basically say oh, he`s been here for this extent of time, maybe that length of time. They`re

all refugees and a plague on all their houses.

REISCHELT (PH): That`s a valid point, Richard, but the one punchline we have seen, especially from the far right parties here, especially

yesterday, when it was looking like it was someone who came here on Merkel`s policy was Merkel is directly responsible for the people killed in

this attack.

This is an argument you cannot possibly make even in a post-factual age under the circumstances we`re seeing right now. So I do think, I do agree

there will be a debate about Merkel`s policy. But it won`t be as divisive. It won`t be as sharp as it looked yesterday.

It will turn more toward the security argument and how a person like that, someone of such a high threat level, could go unnoticed by the security

apparatus.

QUEST: I noticed that today and this week, the European Commission, the College of Commissioners, one of the things they were looking at is the

Schengen security arrangements. Now there`s a valid case for saying firstly that maybe some of the privacy laws in Germany are too strict and

therefore there needs to be better sharing of information.

And secondly, this is a failure of the Schengen security arrangements.

REISCHELT (PH): It`s hard to see a point right now where there hasn`t been a failure, Richard. This man was able to travel almost freely on different

identities and I think the main thing to point out here is that there are laws in place -- in my personal opinion, some security privacy laws are too

strict.

But the laws we have, you know, were in this case were not implemented. There are clear regulations on people like this, on people of the highest

threat level --

[16:15:00]

REISCHELT (PH): -- how they should be surveilled, how they should be followed. The latest development-- we have heard is that this person was

investigated from March to September because they suspected he wanted to get his hands on money to then buy weapons, possibly Kalashnikovs, AK-47s,

to facilitate a sophisticated attack.

So he was on the radar and they just dropped him in September. He disappeared into the crowd and most likely showed up here right behind me

in a truck again to kill 12 people.

You know there are clear regulations to stop people like this. There are clear orders that would have stopped this. And they were just, as it looks

like now, they were not implemented, they were not followed. And so that kind of gives you a feeling that if even those very basic regulations don`t

work, the much larger framework here in Europe that would regulate how people travel from country to country, with borders that are widely open,

will not work at all if even the most basic things cannot be implemented by local law enforcement.

QUEST: Julian, we`re very grateful that you braved the cold to talk to us tonight. From Berlin, thank you, sir.

REISCHELT (PH): Always good to be with you.

QUEST: Now in Syria, state media says the evacuations from Eastern Aleppo have restarted just after a delay. The Red Cross says all those in need of

hospital attention have now been got out. Snow`s been falling and people are struggling to keep warm.

Could it get any worse?

At the same time, 1,500 civilians are expected to be evacuated from Kathra (ph) and Fuh (ph), villages in mainly rebel-held Italy province.

From Moscow to Ankara to Berlin and it all comes down to Aleppo. Janine di Giovanni is the Middle East editor at "Newsweek" and she`s been covering

global conflicts since the 1980s. She`s a consultant on the (INAUDIBLE) for the United Nations.

When she joined me earlier in the week, she told me the West is paying the price for ignoring the conflict in Syria.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANINE DI GIOVANNI, "NEWSWEEK": What is for sure is there was going to be repercussions from the fall of Aleppo. This is a war that`s been going on

since 2011, which was largely people in Aleppo, in Syria, feel that they have been abandoned by the West, that they`ve been left to rot basically,

the city abandoned.

And when it fell last week it was very clear that something like this was going to happen, especially in Europe.

But what happens in these scenarios?

Does (INAUDIBLE) does somebody in ISIS say, all right, time for an attack?

Do it in Berlin.

DI GIOVANNI: Cells are activated. There are cells -- I live in Paris. We have cells throughout Western Europe. When they are activated, let`s say,

from the time that Aleppo fell, various actors that are given their call -- they`ve been trained, they`ve been sent to Syria to train. They`ve been

sent back to Europe.

Or they`ve been coming out as part of the evacuated. They came out of different cities of Syria.

QUEST: And if we then take -- that`s Berlin but then if we then take the incident in Turkey, where you have an off-duty police officer who shoots

the Russian ambassador, you know, you can`t protect somebody against a police officer who`s got a badge and the permission of a gun to go in the

room.

DI GIOVANNI: Well, we don`t know yet where he is coming from.

But it almost is like Sarajevo 1914 and --

(CROSSTALK)

QUEST: That`s the analogy people are making.

DI GIOVANNI: -- absolutely. But that was 1914 Sarajevo, was the beginning of the end and the beginning of the Great War. And for many of us -- I

live in Europe, we have felt acutely the abandonment of Syria and the non- decisive policy, primarily by President Obama -- will lead to attacks throughout Europe and, inevitably, to the U.S.

QUEST: When we -- let`s put that into -- because there`s so many unknowns that we could -- and another unknown is how a President Trump will handle

this -- these sorts of events, which will land on his desk on January the 20th.

DI GIOVANNI: Well, he`s said clearly that his policy is going to be ISIS, primarily ISIS. Syria, right now, let`s face it, Assad has won the war for

all effective purposes. That doesn`t mean the war is over, it`s now going to turn to Italy, where most of the evacuees from Aleppo are going. So

Italy will be the next area of attack.

And -- of fighting but that will fall as well, because backed by Russia. Assad --

QUEST: So where do those fighters go?

Where do the rebels go?

DI GIOVANNI: Italy.

QUEST: No, no, no, I mean after Italy as they keep getting pushed further away. Obviously there`s the desert side, which nothing`s going on there

but if you look at all of the various -- the major population centers that have come under attack by Russia and Syria, you`ve got an evacuation

underway but once they`ve gone to Italy and that becomes the locus of attack?

DI GIOVANNI: Reminds me very much of the fall of Grozny, Chechnya --

[16:20:00]

DI GIOVANNI: -- where I was in 2000. And what happened to the Chechen fighters is that they moved, they regrouped militarily and then they went

underground and there were much more guerilla tactics.

So I think my view is what`s going to happen with the rebels now is that they will regroup, they`ll go to Italy, Italy already there`s a terrible

humanitarian situation going on. So added this many more people is going to be desperate.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: They say the waiting is the hardest part. For those of us waiting for the Dow Jones and 20,000, we`re all feeling that. The Dow finished

down not only did it fail to hit 20, it actually retreated. So the wait goes on.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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QUEST: The wait for the Dow Jones to hit 20,000, it continues into another day. The Dow actually retreated just marginally, just down 32 points,

19,941 and change. If or when the Dow brings the milestone, there`s no guarantee that the drivers of this surge will be able to contain or to

maintain this lofty level and the question of a correction comes into focus.

Look, turn your head, you`ll see at the superscreen, the drivers toward 20,000, bearing in mind the market`s up 9 percent or so since Donald Trump

took office, 15 percent for the year and if you look at what`s pumping up the Dow, well Donald Trump and his promising economic policies of faster

growth and lower taxes, all of which will boost the economy to his 4 percent that he wants to see, then you`ve got the good jobs report showing

the lowest unemployment in nine years and actually real wage increase for the first time in years.

So that also feeds into an economy, people buying things, companies have better profits. The Dow goes up and, of course, oil prices steadily

helping to fuel the fuel markets.

This perversion, of course, if oil is going up, the market seems to go up as well. But there are plenty of pins out there and needles waiting to

burst the balloon. The first, of course, is the high level of inventories. Companies have restocked. The shelves are full.

When the shelves are full, you start to cut back on making more things. And that`s likely to be a big factor in early 2017. Then you have got the

question of earnings themselves, whether there`s will be a trade war, what is the potential for further growth in earnings and then finally related to

that, the U.S. dollar. It`s at a 14-year high, the dollar is strong against the euro, the yen, the Chinese renminbi is weakening. Put it

altogether, that could hurt exports in the long term.

Now let`s talk about it with Paul La Monica, who joins me in the studio.

[16:25:00]

QUEST: And Tim Anderson is the managing director at TJM Investments at the stock exchange.

Tim, just put me out of my misery, please, and explain the psychologically important barrier that`s preventing the Dow hitting 20,000.

TIM ANDERSON, TJM INVESTMENTS: Richard, actually the market is acting very rationally the last few days. Clearly there`s some resistance at the

20,000 level, it`s been just teasingly close since the opening Monday morning. And we`re just hovering within 50 points right now, 60 points of

that level.

But today for instance, the transports and the Russell have the largest percentage declines. They had the sharpest rallies from November 3rd up

until the Fed meeting.

So we haven`t had a sharp decline really or one day of the Fed meeting. We`ve got some resistance here. We`re churning our way through it. The

leadership kind of rotates a little bit from sector to sector.

And I`m not really a guy that always thinks these big round numbers are that important but I think 20,000 is important, it`s a really big number

for the Dow. It certainly means nothing for valuation. But it means a lot for psychology and psychology is very important for the market right now.

PAUL LA MONICA, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think that is certainly a great point, Tim, we`ve got this just waiting for this number, this hope

that we`re finally going to get it so we can move on. Even though it doesn`t really change that much, 19,900, 20,000, I think --

(CROSSTALK)

LA MONICA: We get slightly more expensive than where we were at 19,900 and change.

QUEST: Except as soon as you hit 20,000, Tim, I say to you, when`s 21,000 coming?

ANDERSON: Well, sure, of course but the reality is you want -- when you hit it and go through it, you want to sustain that level. You know. And

you want to hit it with the confidence that it`s going to be like a new base for the market. And we`re going to build on it going into the new

year.

LA MONICA: Right.

Could we have this happening, Tim, this kind of flat, narrow range until the middle of the new year?

Obviously everyone`s going to be focused on the inauguration. That`s the big news event for mid-January. But more important for the markets,

perhaps, we`re going to have corporate earnings for the fourth quarter, the outlooks for 2017, which is obviously tied to the new administration coming

in.

But if companies don`t have solid earnings, doesn`t really matter what Trump does with stimulus and what the Fed does. That winds up being a

major negative for the market if corporate America doesn`t deliver.

QUEST: (INAUDIBLE) that. Tim, good see you, sir, we`re out of time. Good to see you sir, Tim.

And Paul, thank you very much indeed.

To Mexico now where investigators are picking through the charred remains of a fireworks market, trying to work out what set off a series of massive

explosions. The force of those blasts was so great it shook the ground in neighboring towns.

The authorities say at least 31 people have been killed, dozens of others have been injured. Of course, as you can expect from this, there are some

severe burns.

More now from the scene in Tultepec. Leyla Santiago joins us live.

Do we know anymore about what caused this?

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Richard, we are now more than 24 hours since that explosion that you just showed and, no, no we don`t know exactly

what caused it. In fact, officials are not even giving preliminary cause.

Just nine days ago, they talked about and, by them, I mean government officials talked about this being one of the most safest places.

Firework stands in Latin America, today, let`s review the numbers. They are reporting at least 31 deaths and at least 59 wounded.

Now I had a chance to actually go inside, let me show you, without our cameras I had a chance to go inside and walk around just a little bit. And

I saw the debris that you`re seeing.

Workers, volunteers, people coming in to relieve some of the people that are now helping in what is a federal investigation. We have seen cadaver

dogs out here. We have seen forensic teams out here.

But we`ve also seen a lot of families, families and friends of people that are clinging on to this very fence, hoping to find those who have not been

identified.

I actually spoke to one woman and I noticed -- I took note of her because she had an arm brace. I asked her what happened. She said she was inside

at the time when it happened. She was taken to the hospital and fractured her arm. She considered herself very lucky.

But when I asked her to walk me through exactly what she saw, exactly what she felt, Richard, it was too tough for her to even talk about it. So now

she`s focused on trying to find her friends. Luckily, all of her family made it out.

And that`s sort of the same tone we hear with government officials. When I asked more questions about inspections and preliminary causes, I`ve been

told over and over again, we`ll get to that but they are focusing on the victims for now.

QUEST: Thank you for joining us from Mexico.

We`ll continue to talk about the European-wide manhunt that`s underway for this man, the 24-year-old Tunisian named as Anis Amri.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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QUEST: Hello, I`m Richard Quest in New York and this is CNN news now.

(HEADLINES)

QUEST: Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip are delaying their holiday plans due to illness. The 90-year-old queen and her 95-year-old husband are both

said to be suffering from heavy colds. They were supposed to take a train to their country estate in Eastern England, Sandringham. Now that trip is

on hold.

Ian Lee has sent this report from London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Richard, as you know, the queen and her husband, Prince Philip, are in their 90s, so everyone`s watching their

health a bit closer, although Buckingham Palace is downplaying this heavy cold. It is disrupting their traditional annual trip to Sandringham, where

they celebrate Christmas with other members of the royal family.

Despite the queen still being fairly active in public life, she is slowing down a bit. By the end of the year, she is going to be handing over 25 of

her 600 patronages to other members of the royal family.

[16:35:00]

LEE: We probably won`t be told if or when they`ll be traveling for the holidays. We will learn, though, when the royal standard, which is flying

over Buckingham Palace right now signifying the queen is home, is taken down -- Richard.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

QUEST: A major manhunt is underway in Europe as we discover what exactly the German police know and how close they believe they are to catching the

man responsible. Eric McLaughlin is in Berlin for us tonight.

So they`ve admitted that the first man that they arrested probably had nothing to do with it, the Pakistani refugee and now they`re looking for

this Tunisian who appears to have been within the European Union for many years.

ERIC MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Richard, and we`re also learning that, at one point, German authorities had him in police custody.

They arrested him back in August for trying to cross illegally into Italy.

But at the time, a judge took the decision to release him even though German authorities had tried and failed to deport him back in June. All of

this leading to some serious questions as to how this attack or if this attack could have been prevented.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): In Germany and across Europe tonight, a desperate manhunt. This arrest warrant issued by German authorities Wednesday for a

24-year-old Tunisian man, Anis Amri, now the only identified suspect of the Christmas market attack.

His identity papers were found at the scene inside this stolen truck`s cabin. Turns out, Amri has been on the German authority`s radar for some

time. According to German intelligence sources, he arrived in Germany mid- 2015 and was involved in radical Islamist circles. He was linked to a leading figure of an ISIS recruitment network and was arrested in August

for trying to travel to Italy using forged documents but was let go by a judge.

Amri also raised alarms when German intelligence believed he was looking to get a gun. Now raids are being carried out in the Cologne area where

police believe he lived.

The German public is being warned that Amri could be violent and armed. A Polish man found shot dead inside the truck has been identified as its

original driver. And the gun used to kill him has not yet been recovered, all this raising new questions as to how the deadliest terrorist attack to

strike Berlin will impact German chancellor Angela Merkel`s political future.

In 2015, Chancellor Merkel announced Germany would admit nearly all Iraqi and Syrian asylum seekers, triggering a human tidal wave through Europe.

Germany accepted more than 800,000 refugees.

Now a senior member of her own party admitting there is definitely a connection between increased terror danger and refugees. This year,

German officials said they foiled multiple terror plots. But the country has seen at least two small-scaled ISIS-inspired attacks carried out by

refugees.

As a result, the far right have made gains on an anti-immigration platform. After the horror in the Christmas market and with federal elections

approaching in 2017, the woman many see as the linchpin holding Europe together could face the toughest battle of her career.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCLAUGHLIN: Now already beginning to see political fallout here in Germany from this attack, lawmakers pushing new legislation that would increase the

government`s powers of electronic surveillance, also increase the number of security cameras around cities such Berlin.

Meanwhile, increased police presence in main areas of public transportation as people here try to make it home for the holidays -- Richard.

QUEST: Eric McLaughlin with -- in Berlin. And let`s talk about the increased security as cities across Europe tightening security in public

areas, obviously around Christmas markets. So to Paris, where you see the checks at the entrance of one of the French capital`s biggest markets,

which now are being performed.

And it`s the same story in Rome, where Italian police are on heightened alert.

In the British capital, in London, there`ll be new road closures around Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard. Apparently they were

already planned. Metropolitan police brought them forward as a precaution in the wake of Berlin attack.

CNN`s terrorism analyst is Paul Cruickshank. He is with us in London.

We`ll deal with the new security measures in a moment, Paul. I just wanted to get your take. This idea that this chap that they`re now looking for

had been in the union for a long time, traveled on false papers, had been arrested, was known to have sympathies and connections.

[16:40:00]

QUEST: So you know, are we left with either the authorities are so overwhelmed by these numbers of these people or they`ve really bungled this

in a big, big way?

What do you say?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: I think it`s somewhere between those two things. They are overwhelmed, stretched thin; it`s an

unprecedented threat in Germany and indeed across Europe. But there seem to have been many missed opportunities in this case.

This is somebody under intense investigation after he arrived in Germany, intense investigation, which led to the conclusion that he was dangerous,

that he was a risk; part of that investigation revealed that he was trying to obtain a weapon.

Obviously that should have put all sorts of alarm bells into the German security system and so some missed opportunities; also, just over the

summer when he was detained in Southern Germany on the way to Italy and then let go by a judge.

QUEST: But sort of pause you on that, Paul, because I hear what you say.

But what would you suggest they do?

For example, if they`ve arrested him and there`s no evidence to charge him with one of these offenses, what do you do?

You can`t just gratuitously lock him up. The U.S. tried that in Guantanamo Bay. So you`re left with this solution.

Who could have predicted that this man would take an ordinary vehicle, murder the driver, drive it into a Christmas market?

What do you do?

CRUICKSHANK: Well it`s very, very tough and you`re absolutely right, we live in free societies in the West and you -- to be able to convict someone

and charge them, you need a very substantial amount of evidence. And that`s often very difficult to collect.

But they were taking some steps in this case to deport him from Germany but the problem was they couldn`t confirm his identify and, of course, under

German law, if you don`t know who you`re dealing with, you can`t deport them.

And there`s a blame game going around now because the Germans are pointing the fingers at the Tunisians and saying, well, you didn`t help us enough

with establishing who this guy really was.

But bottom line, this guy was being investigated intensively; they realized he was a risk. And at some point I think there are some real questions now

for the German security services and the German government about why this guy was not put under even more intense surveillance in the past weeks.

QUEST: Paul Cruickshank, thank you, sir, thank you, we`ll talk more next week, thank you.

Now President-Elect Donald Trump has just named Carl Icahn as a special advisor on regulatory reform. This is the statement from the president-

elect.

He`s praised Carl Icahn as one of the world`s great business men, saying not only is he a brilliant negotiator -- excuse me -- but praised his

ability to predict the future.

Now when we look at this -- and Carl Icahn has accepted this role as a presidential advisor on regulatory reform. You remember originally, in the

very early days of the president-elect`s campaign, he had almost jokingly said he would consider Carl Icahn as Treasury Secretary.

Icahn quickly ruled himself out for that particular role. But Carl Icahn, along with Wilbur Ross, have been part of the backbone of President-Elect

Trump`s campaign and, indeed the inspiration and instigator, in many ways, of many of the policies.

We`ll be talking about that because that`s a fascinating that Carl Icahn will now have a formal role within the Trump administration.

Staying with the administration, the president-elect says what happened in Berlin was an attack on humanity and he`s been proven right, 100 percent

correct, he says. Donald Trump`s remarks when we return.

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[16:45:00]

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QUEST: U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump is monitoring developments in Berlin in the wake of Christmas market attack. Today he spoke to reporters

outside of his residence, his resort in Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: (INAUDIBLE) attack on humanity. That`s what it is, it`s an attack on humanity. And it`s got to

be stopped.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Now Donald Trump is meeting with his national security adviser to discuss the events in Berlin. We are expecting to hear from Mr. Trump

shortly.

Barbara Starr, CNN`s Pentagon correspondent, is with us.

Now so the NSA, the National Security Advisor elect, if you`d like, or nominee, is -- has been having meetings.

Do we know the thrust of what they`re discussing or what they`re hoping -- what sort of resolution they`re going to come to?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Richard, they are talking about staffing up some of the new picks they need to make to fill some of

the crucial national security slots in Washington.

But they are also having briefings on intelligence. Mike Flynn, briefing the president-elect on intelligence matters; a lot of questions about

whether the president-elect, though, is getting the necessary intelligence briefings from his official government briefer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice-over): When President-Elect Donald Trump addressed reporters today, he had his new national security advisor right behind him.

TRUMP: (INAUDIBLE).

STARR (voice-over): Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn in Florida to discuss world events and staffing. The meeting was on the schedule before the

terror attacks in Germany and Turkey.

Trump began the day with an official president`s daily brief, the PDB. Trump`s staff insists he is getting some type of intelligence briefing

every day and will be on top of things from day one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s very much up to speed in what`s going on and fully ready for to be sworn in next month and take over the role as commander in

chief.

STARR (voice-over): A U.S. official tells CNN Trump is averaging one formal intelligence briefing a week, the same type that President Obama

gets. Trump is also getting intelligence briefings on specific topics.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The one thing I will say is that the president-elect is receiving numerous briefings, whether from his national security team with

Gen. Flynn and others as well as the formal PBD.

STARR (voice-over): The briefings come as the pace of international events is quickening. The Kremlin today said relations with the U.S. have frozen

a day after President Obama imposed new sanctions aimed at Russia`s involvement in Crimea and Ukraine, sanctions the incoming president could

reverse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The next administration will obviously have to make their own decisions about this. We hope that they will come to see the

wisdom in not conducting business as usual with Russia.

STARR (voice-over): All leading to the greater question, how friendly will the incoming president be to Vladimir Putin?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He sure has to be more cautious about Russia than he appears to be. I mean, he needs to understand that their interests and

their attitude does not align with ours.

STARR (voice-over): Nowhere may that be more clear than the Moscow meeting of Russian, Iranian and Turkish officials on what to do next in Syria.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): All three countries presented here are united.

STARR (voice-over): But U.S. officials still believe the talks will not stop Moscow from continuing its military operations in Syria beyond Aleppo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: And many of these policies --

[16:50:00]

STARR: -- by the president-elect still to be flushed out and he does have to find some additional people to serve in these essential national

security slots. People are waiting to see will he make a nomination for director of national intelligence, the top intelligence job in Washington?

Will he pick someone to be his counterterrorism and his homeland security advisors inside the White House -- Richard.

QUEST: Barbara, what`s clear with the events of the last 72 hours is the gravity, the depth, the range of issues that the president-elect is going

to have to deal with from day one.

We always knew it but this is driving it home, isn`t it?

STARR: Well I think, it really is, you know, yes, terrible things happen around the world sadly almost every day. And they do seem to come in

waves and batches, but this week alone underscores just how critical it will be for any new administration to have the people and the expertise in

place to make those key decisions -- Berlin, Ankara, Switzerland, recent attacks in Jordan, Yemen and other places.

It just keeps coming. It is something the new White House will have to deal with -- Richard.

QUEST: And they won`t have much grace time upon to get up to speed. Barbara, good to see you, thank you as always, Barbara Starr at the

Pentagon.

We continue tonight, a witness to the horror in Berlin tells us about treating the attack survivors.

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QUEST: (INAUDIBLE) Berlin saw how horrifying the attack was and was there up close. Max Foster reports on what his team saw and then, of course, how

they prepared for this crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many of the staff who were informed by social media already were here. So in this hospital just this is one part of

(INAUDIBLE) we had about I would say 250 of staff members coming in from their own parties, they had breakout parties, Christmas parties, they were

at home.

And so then their system was activated. The injuries were really related to the mechanism of injury. On one side -- and we have to consider the

scene -- a truck drove into a crowd of people who had some drinks in this Christmas place, so there was severe soft tissue injuries, broken bones.

Some of them were caught under the truck and some of the injuries they couldn`t really survive; if you can imagine, a truck drives over your chest

or your abdomen, this is a significant injury.

And then other patients were affected by those hats which collapse so they were wooden poles or whatever fell on them so they had, I`d say, clavicle

fractures and other broken bones. And I think this is probably the spectrum. Other ones they were hit by, you know --

[16:55:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- minor things that they had only had contusions. And this is just the physical trauma. The ones which follows now and we become

much more aware about the psychological effect on them because they realize what actually happened and in what kind of environment it all occurred.

It was blood all over the scene. It was like a little war zone.

(CROSSTALK)

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Is that what they`re describing, it felt like a war zone?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, yes, as they describe it, they said that they wanted to help but they couldn`t help anymore. And so -- difficult. This

is a very traumatic, very traumatic event for them. And even now it`s only -- the only telltale part of the story, not the full story yet, they need

strong support to overcome it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Needless to say, tonight, of course, as indeed has been other days, Berlin is a city in mourning.

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QUEST: The German capital is coming together to pay tribute to the victims. The Brandenburg Gate has been lit up in the colors of the flag

and people are laying flowers, of course, at the memorials.

But, still, of course -- still, of course, the awfulness of the memory and the politics of the future and the safety of those living in the major

cities remains the big questions to be answered.

I`m Richard Quest in New York. Donald Trump has been speaking. We`ll have all the details on that. And, of course, we`ll continue to watch the

events and the man who`s on the search for the man believed to be responsible for the Berlin attack because the news never stops. Neither do

we. This is CNN.

END