Return to Transcripts main page
Hala Gorani Tonight
Police: Driver in Custody After man Plows Into Pedestrians; Critical Week Of Diplomacy For Donald Trump; Video From Toronto Appears to Show Standoff. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired April 23, 2018 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:00:11]
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome. I`m Isa Soares.
Tonight, we begin with breaking news, a van has struck multiple pedestrians we`ve been told in Toronto. Now, it happens in the area of Yonge Street
and Finch Avenue. Now, paramedics are telling CNN they are on the scene and treating multiple patients.
Now Toronto police say that the van has been found and that the suspect has been arrested, but we have so many questions exactly as to what has
unfolded.
Let`s go straight to CNN`s Jason Carroll. He`s standing by for us in New York. Jason, tell us what you know at this hour.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this all started at about 1:30, that according to witnesses and the Toronto Police Department, that
is when apparently a white van jumped a curb and started plowing into pedestrians there near Yonge and Finch.
Apparently, according to Toronto PD, the van traveled anywhere between a half-mile and a mile before it was stopped. The driver is now in custody.
We are cheering from a number of eyewitnesses who were there on the ground. One woman said it looked as if this driver this van was doing it, quote,
"on purpose."
Another man who was there on the ground says that he saw a number of paramedics treating people there in the ground. He also says that he saw
as many as four bodies there on the ground. Canada`s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has already weighed in and spoke about this saying more to learn
more to learn, say in the coming hours.
And also, Isa, just within the last few moments we`ve also got a statement from Toronto`s mayor who says my thoughts are with those affected by this
incident and the frontline responders who are working to help those injured.
Once again, the driver of the van is now in custody. Investigators clearly have a number of questions for him to try to sort out the motive behind all
this -- Isa.
SOARES: Jason, before you go, very quickly, do we know the extent of the injuries?
CARROLL: It`s too early to tell and an example of that is initially after the reports started coming in, we were initially getting reports from
Toronto PD that there may have been as many as eight to 10 people who were injured and then shortly thereafter they put out another statement saying
it was too early at this point to confirm the number of injuries there on the ground, but I`m sure that will be coming shortly.
SOARES: Jason, do keep us posted as soon as you get more do come back to us. And like Jason was saying Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke
very briefly in fact just moments ago. Take a listen to what he has to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Obviously, we are just learning about the situation in Toronto. Our hearts go out to anyone affected. We
are going to obviously have more to learn, to say in the coming hours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Well, let`s get more on this unfolding story that happened in the last half hour or so. We`re joined now on the phone by CNN law enforcement
analyst, Charles Ramsey. Charles, thank you very much for speaking to us. Give me a sense, if your authorities using this all unfold, what would
authorities be asking the man they`ve just apprehended, the driver. What would then -- what will they be asking in order to ascertain exactly if
this was an accident or this was nefarious?
CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST (via telephone): Yes, well, right now, you know, they are trying, and I imagine they probably have
(inaudible) identification on this individual. But they are going to try to find a motive, I mean, we don`t know at this point in time, was it an
accident? Was it intentional?
Certainly, (inaudible) it was probably intentional, but knowing what his motive is what I`m looking at on television and it looks a rental truck, so
they are going to you have to do some research and background on that to try to confirm who he is.
Does he live there? use didn`t do their soul searching the display will also check the social media is a lot of stuff going on right now is very
initial stages of the investigation, but fortunately, he is in custody. So, they`ll learn more as time develops and hopefully, the injuries are not
too severe.
SOARES: At this moment, of course, we don`t know. We also don`t know the age, (inaudible) or in fact the motive as you said. You mentioned the van,
you think it`s a rental van. Why do you think that is and what will authorities be looking at, law enforcement officials be looking when they
look at van, Charles?
RAMSEY: Well, I`m looking at the television now and it shows a white van with (inaudible) the side, which would indicate to me that it`s a
(inaudible) van. Perhaps it isn`t, but I would think that it is.
And so then where did he rent it from the search. They`ll certainly search that particular vehicle and any other information they get in terms of who
he is, where he lives, or where he may have gone over the past day or two.
They`ve got to the track all that down, but again this is very initial stages they may or may not even have firmly identified in terms of who he
is, where he lives, what he may have done over the past day or two. They`ve got to track all that down, but again, this the initial stages.
They may or may not have firmly identified.
SOARES: Yes. And at this point, I`m getting, we don`t know if he was acting alone. This is something authorities will also be looking at fully.
RAMSEY: Yes, I mean, you know, they are just starting so there a lot of possibilities right now, but I know they are working hard to try to narrow
it down best they can to make sure this will just one person acting. But they have to find out the motive and it may not know that for a period of
time yet.
SOARES: Charles, you hinted there in your first answer that perhaps this may have been intentions for the distance the van traveled. Explain that
to us.
RAMSEY: Well, I mean, from what I`m seeing now anywhere from half a mile to a mile. So, unless, that was major mechanical malfunction in the
vehicle. That it to be intentional. Now we don`t know yet because obviously that part which you have to check as well. But assuming that it
wasn`t a mechanical failure of some kind. I mean, how can you go that far of running over people without it being intentional.
SOARES: Charles Ramsey, a former Washington, D.C. police officer and a former Philadelphia commissioner. Thank you very much, sir. We`ll come
back to you as soon we have more.
And CNN network partner, CTV, spoke to witness who saw the van incident unfolded. Take a listen to what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just (inaudible) and saw there is a white truck go to the sidewalk and so many people was shouting stop the car, but he
didn`t. He just kept moving and he hit some people (inaudible). They didn`t move at all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, the car just kept hitting people, do you think it was on purpose or did it look like it was on purpose?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it`s on purpose because if the car doesn`t work, he should like hit the car or something, so he can stop, but he just
goes through the sidewalk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, the car started hitting here or was it up there, where did he start hitting?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw is -- because (inaudible) so I can see it started here because I didn`t go over there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, and this Park Home Avenue. Is that right what`s it called here so Park Home and Yonge. OK, so you saw him start hitting
people and continue to go down on the sidewalk, was he driving on the road?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, All right. I didn`t get your name.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Emma (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) told me that that car from Yonge, Finch, and started hitting people. (Inaudible) gunshot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A gunshot. They heard a gunshot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gunshot (inaudible) from there, just keep hitting people and that`s my friend called to tell me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, thank you, guys.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: You just heard there an eyewitness mentioned a shot. CNN has been unable to confront that any shots were fired. We are bringing, of course,
all the latest as we get in and just bring you up to date with what we know.
A van white van that we saw (inaudible) bring that up, which a law enforcement official believes it was a rented van. Around 1:30 or so local
time was driven at (inaudible) before mounting the payment of sidewalk before coming to a stop.
We have told by officials eight people having struck by that vehicle. We do not know the extent of those injuries although we`ve been told by the
district chief for Toronto fire thing that Saturday multiple casualties and the large presence of Toronto fire police and EMS personnel on the scene.
I want to go now to Paula Newton, who is usually as you know based in Canada and she joins me now. Paula, first of all, give us a sense of where
exactly this is.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is quite a distance from downtown Toronto in terms of a drive and you can see it`s incredibly spread out your
talking about very wide boulevards and speaking to at least one witness there.
He seemed to notice this white van driving quite erratically, not on the sidewalk yet but speeding, and in that kind area of Toronto, at that hour,
when it`s not very busy, yes, you would notice a white van speeding that quickly and perhaps driving a little erratically down the street.
I want you to look now with the Google map that image were looking at. It is quite far from downtown. Having said that, what is concerning is the
fact that the eyewitnesses report that eyewitnesses I spoke to said he started at a road called Shepherd and Yonge and may have gone as far as
Finch and Young now there`s some debate as to whether he was headed north or headed south.
But the point is and given what we`ve already heard from eyewitnesses is the fact that he had gone a long distance. I also want to point out was
one of the first nice spring days in Toronto, more people on the sidewalk, but you normally have a huge presence of people on the sidewalks.
Again, from what witnesses have been saying he was driving erratically. They weren`t many people out, but he just covered such a large distance.
So, feature even a kilometer to mile now when you have a white van like driving erratically. At that hour of the day, you noticed in that area
(inaudible).
[15:10:06] SOARES: And Yonge Street, it`s a pretty busy thoroughfare in Toronto.
NEWTON: It is absolutely doesn`t quite busy in those areas, but yes, this is a very large sprawling urban center, and again, what is not good about
this at that hour of the day, you have people normally wouldn`t be outside about how the day would`ve been it was a beautiful sunny day.
It`s not been a particularly warm spring and some people would`ve been out getting a copy would getting their lunch when normally would`ve been in
office is in the winter you go down that street hardly see anyone you exactly.
But as you can see the very wide boulevards they. There would`ve been people on the sidewalk, but one eyewitness that I spoke to said he see
anyone injured, but definitely saw this man had already been driving erratically before he had gotten to this destination.
SESAY: We have seen footage of people just lying on the ground, people being attended to by (inaudible). But it`s also interestingly it`s
happened at the same time the G7 foreign ministers are meeting.
NEWTON: So, the G7 in Canada will host the G7 meeting in June. As a prelude to that both the foreign ministers and the security ministers
principally are meeting there from the G7 nations there in downtown Toronto.
They are not close to the scene, but obviously, they will be looking at this incident very closely specially to see (inaudible) Ralph Goodale, who
is the public security minister in Canada, how he now deals with the investigation part of this.
As we just heard from our experts, it`s far too early to know what a motive could possibly been. What will preoccupy investigators, though is the fact
that it was a rental truck very clearly, it`s a rental truck rider.
They are ubiquitous of their all over Toronto and other Canadian cities that it is a rental truck and the fact that from the eyewitness reports
that we`ve already heard he did mount the sidewalk and likely could -- you know they assume that if he wanted to stop, he could have stopped.
We again I know now from police the suspect is in custody, so the investigation begins, but they`ll be looking very, very closely at this.
And again, obviously, terror incidents are not known in Canada far from it, but in general when you look -- when authorities tell me the scope is the
problem that they`re dealing with. And the fact that we have not in Canada had those major terror incidents and playing throughout Europe.
SOARES: At this stage, we don`t know if it`s an accident. We don`t know if it`s anything more nefarious, but we have seen vehicles being used as a
full terrorism.
NEWTON: That did happen in fact in the province of Quebec, I guess, it was three years ago now where you know a person killed in a parking lot. It
seems that a vehicle was used. Then after, to remind everyone the incident most remember is that attack on the Canadian Parliament and where a vehicle
was at one point during the attack used but he was a government he was on foot and shot and killed on one of officer and then went on to Parliament
Hill and had that shooting rampage.
He also tried to steal a car and ram it into parliament helps, but again Canadian authorities will be working with their American counterparts as
they are sitting down at that G7 meeting right now just to try and determine exactly what they know. And if in fact it is terrorism related.
SOARES: Paula, do stay with us as this unfolding. I want to speak to an eyewitness, Kash Alavi, the realtor who work Young Shepherd area joins me
now on the phone. Tell me what you have seen?
KASH ALAVI, EYEWITNESS (via telephone): We were just coming out of (inaudible) for lunch and there were a lot of commotion in the street on
Yonge Street being a very busy main street and main Street, and this is kind of like the downtown of the northern downtown area.
So, there is a lot of people on the street at the time because the weather is good and also lunch time and we looked at the commotion and was probably
about four or five bodies on the ground across the street.
And when we cross the street, the police and ambulance weren`t there at the time yet. People were trying to revive the victims there on the ground. A
lot of them have blood all over their bodies and that were kind of (inaudible) position.
The van kind of hit them and plowed over them and the police came, and the ambulance came, they tried, and they were not successful and we`ll cover
with the bodyguards and we head that the van was traveling southbound Yonge and Finch.
And as we walked upwards, we realized there was body littered all over the sidewalks on the south bound sidewalk. There were probably at least 20 to
30 people that have been hit. Maybe around (inaudible) intention (inaudible) what we have heard is that the van was a rental van, a cargo
van, which mounted the sidewalk and was just plowing through people.
You can see fire hindrance from the ground and certain things have been hit and (inaudible) everywhere, but there is (inaudible) going southbound.
There was another one of the others probably three more about the hundred, 150 meters away from that and all along (inaudible) street all the way down
to Yonge and Shepherd.
SOARES: Kash, very quickly, did you see the van plowing through? Did you see how quick it was going, and if it was being erratic, any of that?
[15:15:09] ALAVI: No, I didn`t but we were speaking to eyewitnesses who saw the van plowed through them, going approximately 70 kilometers an hour,
which is both maybe 35, 40 miles an hour. And he was just going through and hitting people.
(Inaudible) a stroller lady in the stroller be from child or not there is older people is an old senior on street on some of them were sitting
outside the building in front of the some of those guys have been hit I saw a homicidal and also the people that were on lunch just walking in and out
of your office of the two restaurants.
SOARES: Kash, I want to know if you can tell me what you saw in terms of days well sitting or lying on the grounding attendant to in terms of
injuries. You saw a couple of body bags, give us a sense of what you saw on the sidewalks.
ALAVI: I saw approximately maybe six to eight body bags. I wish was weird because a lot of them sense of what is what you soul on the sidewalks
ballpark movie maybe six or eight body which was weird because a lot of them seem the sole guidance you get back up in the moment being over being
kind of CPR and a lot -- that were unsuccessful.
Maybe one of them was still breathing alive and moving, but he was in critical condition, and there was blood everywhere. I think he (inaudible)
is broken and twisted in the unusual kind of way.
SOARES: Kash Alavi for us there in Toronto, thank you very much for bringing us up-to-date with what you seen and what you had there. Shocking
as we are getting out information from you and from authorities. We still do not know if this was an accident or something more nefarious or this
terror related.
What we do know is that authorities have apprehended the man driving the van, a van that plowed, struck multiple plasters we told in Toronto. It
happened around 1:30 PM on a beautiful sunny day (inaudible) was saying and rarely it hasn`t happened for a while.
People living out to get lunch, their meals and paramedics is telling CNN, they have been on the scene. They`ve been treating multiple patients and
we do not know at this moment, the age of the person behind that rental truck, believe it was a rental truck, the gender or indeed the motive.
We know he was -- the vehicle is being driven at speed, as you heard from witnessed. He (inaudible) around 70 kilometers an hour full and mounted
the pavement and onto the sidewalk before coming to a stop.
We are following this breaking news story. We`ll be right back after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:20:07]
SOARES: If you are just joining us, let me bring you up to date with the latest of the following breaking news in the last 20 minutes or so. A van
has struck multiple pedestrians we are told in Toronto.
It happened on the area on Yonge Street and Finch Avenue, a pretty busy thoroughfare. Now paramedics tell CNN they are on the scene and they are
treating multiple patients. Toronto police say that the van has been found and the suspect has been arrested.
What we know from authorities, eyewitness is that the van that we saw on the screen believed to be a rental van was driven at speed for roughly,
according to one eyewitness, 70 kilometers an hour before mounting the pavement, sidewalk before then coming to a stop.
Now authorities say between eight and ten people being struck by the vehicle. We do not know the extent of those injuries, though. We do not
know the age, or the gender of the person arrested or indeed the motive.
Now CNN network partner, CTV, spoke to a witness who saw the incident and helped people in the aftermath. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was (inaudible) at 5460 Yonge Street. I have just stepped out and lit a cigarette. When I did that, I turned up my head and
I saw the van hit a man walked into the intersection. It`s a green light and he actually (inaudible) into the road. So, at that point, I ran in the
middle road and I stop all the cars and then (inaudible). I stayed with man to make sure he was OK, and no other (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was he OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was conscious. He couldn`t move (inaudible), but he hang in there. I hope he`s going to be all right. Officers asked me to
come up to the intersection up here (inaudible). I saw about three or four bodies lying on the grounds, other were getting CPR. (Inaudible) go back
and relay that information to him (inaudible) about half an hour and just (inaudible) information.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you tell me what the scene looked like when you were walking through?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was an ordinary day walking and saw the guy get hit by a van. (Inaudible) was flying everything. Like I said, I turned my
head to make sure there were no cars coming (inaudible) and I just held there. That was all that I could do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you take a good look at the driver?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Didn`t see the driver at all. I didn`t really see the van. It just happened so quickly. My main concern was for the man on the
road.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How fast would you say he was going?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t know. Probably about 60 to 70 kilometers an hour. It`s hard to say. I mean, I just saw the guy go flying and I heard
the bang and just wanted to stop traffic that`s all I wanted to do. So that`s it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you see him hit anybody else?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did not, no. But I saw a lot of people lying on the sidewalk that were -- in pools of blood and I was told there were more
people further down there. Currently, he`s been caught so that`s all I have.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And where exactly did you see him hit someone?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right at the intersection. The man was walking through the intersection at Yonge and (inaudible), which is why he was in the
middle of the intersection and the van just went right into him, plowed right into him. And then apparently, he drove down further and he went on
to the sidewalk by the next building and he hit more people there and just kept going.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did he go on to the sidewalk or was he on the road?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The man that I saw get hit was crossing the street, so he was on the road. But as he went further down, he must have gone on the
sidewalk because there were people on sidewalk that got hit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did it look the man that was hit had broken bones?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He couldn`t move. He could just barely move. There was a little bit of blood, but he looked like he was all right. I`m
surprised he got hit really hard.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And how old was he would you say?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`d say maybe about 55 years old. What were you doing here today?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I was going down to North (inaudible). I just thought to have a cigarette. If I hadn`t done that, I probably would have
been killed as well. I would`ve been right there with that guy. So, I was going down to (inaudible) do some shopping.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you doing right now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel sick to my stomach. (Inaudible) this before so I`ll be all right, I guess.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Pandemonium that`s exactly how the witness describes what he saw. Let`s go to Paula Newton. She`s based in Canada but joins me now here in
London. And Paula, it`s really distracting just listening to the description of what we`ve been hearing from one eyewitness one said six to
eight body bags.
(Inaudible) said three to four bodies on the ground. People being given CPR. People line the pool of blood on the pavement. What are you hearing
from authorities there?
NEWTON: So, we have from the public security, Mr. Ralph Godel, who has mentioned before is at a meeting G7 security ministers in Toronto. He will
have a press conference meeting shortly in about 5 to 10 minutes and will update.
His office does caution that, of course, Toronto police will take the lead on this and for good reason. At this point in time in terms of whether or
not any kind of suspect that this wasn`t an accident, was in fact intentional, any kind of a suspect will have been either on the radar of
Toronto police or not.
[15:25:12] They are in the best position. They have quite a tactical unit there to deal with these kinds of incidents in terms of trying to get to
who are they dealing with and if they would pad any accomplices.
Right now, they are obviously investigating what looks to be a cargo van. It is a large hollow van and can actually go when it`s not loaded quite
quickly as there is in its Ryder truck at the car rental company in North America and for that reason they will be checking exactly where that van
came from.
When it was rented, but again, as you can see from that picture right there, a very wide Boulevard and what at least one eyewitness describes to
me and has been corroborated by other eyewitnesses this was erratic driving on the road, on the sidewalk.
That witness described this man who was just lying in the middle of the street and had he not stopped traffic to see that he was OK might have been
hit again and that is the kind of chaos that hit that northern Toronto neighborhood after going at 70 kilometers according to two eyewitnesses
between 60 to 70 kilometers an hour, which is significant in a road like that. But also, it is a beautiful day and it`s 1:30 people have been out
in lunch.
SOARES: That`s an area that even on a very sunny day or hot day would have packed sidewalks. It would be especially at that hour, you would have more
people out, but this is not downtown Toronto or any other downtown city for that matter where you would have throngs of people walking.
He would`ve had in covering the going those distances he would`ve been almost deliberately looking for people and that is what`s shocking I`m sure
to many eyewitnesses that we have already heard from who had just really do not have words for what they`ve seen this afternoon.
NEWTON: And that this pointed is too soon to know to tell what exactly has happened like you said is it an accident, is something more nefarious? I
mean, the gentleman, Charles Ramsey, the former police officer we are talking hinted that perhaps this is something more nefarious by the speed
which was going the distance which was traveling.
We`ve also heard from Justin Trudeau and it seems he also was taking aback by what`s happened, but the early stages of an investigation --
SOARES: And remember this could be really be a tipping point a watershed moment for Canada if indeed this was a deliberate act and that`s what they
are wanting to find out right now and they will be listening very carefully to what Toronto police may already know. Thankfully the suspect is in
custody.
They will be listening to very carefully in terms of what then you can tell Canadians look we`ve had a couple of car incidents like this. In one case
an officer in 2014 was killed. We had an incident and into last year on the person who was not the one officer was injured.
The problem here is to know exactly what you`re dealing with and the fact that if it was deliberate there are very few ways in which to really
counterbalance that kind of a threat to the community and that`s why federal officials will be watching and listening very closely to what
Toronto police can tell them right now behind-the-scenes about what they know about that suspect and from putting together all of the these clues
what they know about whether or not this was deliberate.
And also, key is where that van came from and where it was rented is rented indeed by whom, and the age and agenda, motive. We don`t even know if he
was acting along at this stage. These are all questions that local authorities will no doubt Toronto police will be trying to ascertain.
We`ll have much more still on top of this breaking new story.
Do stay right here. You are watching HALA GORANI TONIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:30:07] ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: If you`re just joining us, let me bring you up to date with the breaking news we`ve been
following. It`s 8:30 here in London, but we`re following a breaking news story out in Toronto. A van has struck multiple pedestrians, we`ve been
told in Toronto. It happened in the area of Yonge Street and Finch Avenue.
Now, paramedics have told CNN they are on the scene and they are treating patients. Toronto police say that the van has been found and the suspect
has been arrested. What more are we finding out? We know that the vehicle was a white vehicle, that authorities and officials believe to be a rented
vehicle, was being driven at speed. That is the vehicle you`re looking at on your screen. Driven at speed. Eyewitnesses say between 60 -- going at
60 and 70 kilometers an hour before then mounting pavement and then coming to a stop. Officials have told us between eight to 10 people have been
struck by the vehicle. We do not know at this stage the extent of the injuries.
Although we do know having spoken to several eyewitnesses, has some several witness, one person said he saw three to four bodies on the ground. One
another said that he saw six to eight body bags, people giving - getting CPR and people lying on the floor in blood and lying in pavement pools of
blood basically. A horrific scenes that we are hearing from officials that is 1:00 in Toronto and eyewitnesses are painting a very disturbing scene.
As you can see the area has been cordoned off.
Let`s bring in CNN law enforcement analyst, Josh Campbell. He is in Washington for us. And Josh, at this point, we do not know the motive, we
do not know who the person was behind this or the gender or anything else. As an expert on this, what would authorities be looking at? What stands
out to you here?
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, so, a few things. Obviously, in a situation like this or several data points that we have and
although it`s too soon to draw a line for them and say that we know what the motive is. We can`t specifically what it is that we know. First of
which being it looks as though we have a rental van, which we`ve seen that in the past as far as being used as an attack. People that were using a
type of vehicle that was not maybe necessarily their own, but something that they rented for the purpose of them using to cause some kind of harm.
And that`s what we`re seeing, at least it appears right now.
The second thing being that it looks as though this was in a highly populated area, which again, this could be an accident. It`s still too
soon to tell exactly what it is that we`re dealing with. But the nature that you have a midday attack that are -- midday striking pedestrians that
appears to happen in this broad daylight where pedestrians are fathered causes some great concern.
This case is unique in that the subject at least appears to be in custody right now, from what we`ve heard from the reporting, which is obviously
unusual. We have had incidents where either the driver of a vehicle is killed or it kills himself and then obviously makes it difficult to try and
determine what exactly is the motive? In this case, you can bet the law enforcement officers will be looking very closely in order to determine why
he was doing what he did and there`ll be lots of questions have come from that.
SOARES: And no doubt they`ll be wondering if he was acting alone or if he has an accomplice, Josh.
CAMPBELL: Yes, I`m sorry about that. A little audio problems. Go ahead, I`m sorry.
SOARES: No worries, I lost -- I lost you again. They`ll have no doubt be wondering if he acted alone. I know we -- police are saying the driver is
in custody. If he acted alone, if he had an accomplice. Is it all these question they`ll be looking at and particularly looking at the inside of
the van trying to track how that was rented.
CAMPBELL: That`s exactly right. And that`s what we in law enforcement call circling the target. Where you`re going to find out -- try to find
out everything you possibly can about this individual. Again, the fact that he is presumably alive and able to speak to law enforcement officers,
we`ll make it -- presumably that much easier to determine what his state of mind is assuming that he cooperates, but also, they`re going to be digging
into his life, his social media, his telephone, his -- any type of medium that he is used to communicate probably in the coming days and probably
hours. We`ll see the authorities entering probably his residence and that of maybe family and friends, again, in order to paint a picture of who this
person is. Is it someone who -- obviously we don`t know if it`s an accident, but is this someone who maybe had some type of mental issue like
we saw recently in Germany or is this someone who went there with intent on causing a lot of harm and taking lives? That`s something that police will
be looking at in the coming hours.
[15:35:22] SOARES: And it also it seems from what two eyewitnesses, what they told us here on CNN, one say that he was going around or she was going
-- the driver was going between 60 to 70 kilometers an hour, Josh, but also traveled a long distance to mounting the pavement for a lot of it and hence
why we have seen so many images and so many people sitting or lying down on the floor being treated for those injuries.
CAMPBELL: Absolutely. And obviously the speed is another yet and another indicator, another data points that we have. If someone is involved in
some type of accident, obviously the first thing you`re going to want to do was bring that vehicle to a halt. The fact that we have this vehicle
traveling what appears to be a significant distance and at a higher rate of speed that you would normally expect, but at least suggest that maybe was
someone who has intent on continuing to use that vehicle or some type of offensive weapon.
Again, we don`t know yet exactly the specific details, but yet another data point as we continue to build a larger picture of what exactly happened.
SOARES: And exactly, like can you point to the authorities now have the driver in custody apprehended so no doubt they will be asking importing for
all those questions. Josh, thank you very much. Appreciate taking time to speak to us here.
Now, we have been hearing from witnesses and I want you take a listen to this man who describes what is a terrifying scene.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I`ve seen him go ahead, I thought he had a heart attack or something. So I was trying to chase him down in the way almost
try to catch him to see what happened. All I`ve seen is this guy just crumble and he`s going 70, 80 clicks. He`s just hitting people one by one
going down. Oh, man. It`s a nightmare, man. I was at Yonge and Empress and I`ve seen a lady with her leg and, man, it`s a gruesome scene. It`s
really bad out there. I couldn`t believe what I`ve seen, man. It was like -- oh, man. Everybody. How these people on the streets getting hit one by
one. Post office box getting crumbled up on people and one person got dragged down and their blood is all over Yonge and Empress. Man. It`s
really bad out there, man. I`m still shaky, I`m still dying from this. I can`t believe this is happening, this is like unbelievable. This is so
unbelievable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was he swerving towards people?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He just went on the sidewalk. He just started hitting everybody, man. He hit every single person on the sidewalk. Anybody in
his lane he would hit. The bus stop. Everything all shattered. There`s a lady in there that I saw. I just thought when I looked and I went after
and again, all I see is just crumbling up one by one. One by one. Holy God. I`ve never seen a scene like this in my life. I swear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did he look like he was doing it with intent, with purpose?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn`t see the person, because it`s a blocked van. It`s one of those white vans where they`re blocked. There`s no windows.
Nothing on this. He`s just going down, just crumbling up. We can`t catch up to him. He`s going 60, 70 kilometers on the sidewalk. Oh, wow.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you see the driver? What did he look like?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I didn`t see him, man. I think he was a guy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Were you right behind him the entire time?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoever did this, I hope this sick person gets dealt with accordingly because this is not -- this is side of his world. This is
some serious terrorism stuff right here, what he did. He just killed 30, 40 people. Oh, man.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Were you driving behind him the entire time?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wasn`t right behind. I was 100 feet way, but I see him crumbling up people, one by one, one by one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you tell us, when you first saw him hit someone or swerve out of control, what did you think?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought it was a heart attack. I thought somebody had a heart attack. Somebody went dying from a heart attack. I thoughts
somebody had a heart attack and then -- oh, my God. Oh, my God. It wasn`t a heart attack. This person was intentionally doing this. He was killing
everybody.
SOARES: An of course we`ll have e after a very short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:40:03] SOARES: We have been following breaking news out of Toronto all this hour.
But now, I want to bring you some of the other headlines we are following to a critical week of diplomacy to Donald Trump. The U.S. president is
hosting the leaders of France and Germany back to back starting today with Emmanuel Macron.
The French president has already touched down in the U.S., as you can see there. Will arrive at the White House in just a couple of hours. His
three-day trip is the very first state visits hosted by the Trump administration. We are covering this story from Washington and Paris.
Now, let`s bring in our White House reporter, Jeremy Diamond and correspondent Melisa Bell. And, Jeremy, many may call this relationship as
a bromance. But while the reality is they do get on, this is likely to be a state visit dominated quite differences when it comes to trade or the
nuclear code Iran. On Iran, can we expect President Trump to stick to the deal?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: You know, that is certainly the million-dollar question going into this week of diplomacy between the two
presidents. But clearly, behind all of the pomp and circumstance that will show off, this close relationship between these two countries, this close
relationship between these two presidents, will also be all of these differences that they do have to work out on policy issues and at the top
of that list will certainly be the Iran deal.
We know that the president -- President Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw the United States from that deal, next month if there are not
serious changes made through that deal that he would like to see including an extension of the sunset provision, for example, movements on ballistic
missile provisions.
And the French president, Emmanuel Macron, will be arriving here with another goal in mind and that will be to keep the United States in this
deal. And so they will be discussing what kind of fixes they can potentially make. But the French president has already said that he plans
to underscore the importance of keeping this deal, regardless of what changes are made saying that it`s better to have some kind of a framework,
this framework of the JCPOA, than to have no framework at all particularly as these two countries are confronting not only the question of Iran and
its nuclear program but also as President Trump prepares to head towards this summit, a potential summit with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.
SOARES: And, Jeremy, do stay with us. I want to bring in Melissa. Because, Melissa, so President Macron and the most important issue would
probably be, and correct me if I`m wrong, the Iran -- the Iran nuclear deal. Does he believe, Melissa, that he can sway President Trump all of
the issue? And more importantly, how do you even -- how does even go about convincing President Trump to stay in the deal?
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, his difficulty really honest, he say that he`s going to speak -- be speaking to Donald Trump, but for
Europeans and that`s a really pour order on this issue. We just heard a moment ago that mentioned of the sunset clauses. One of the big concerns
that Donald Trump, but also other members of the Republican Party have is the idea of what happens beyond 2025 when this Iran deal runs out. And
what he`s looking for with the United States is looking for is some kind of deal within a deal that might be struck with Germany, France, and the
United Kingdom, a deal between those four allies that would provide for extra guarantees, a commitment if you like, from the four of them that they
will do all they can to prevent Iran even beyond that date from getting a nuclear weapon.
The question is, whether Emmanuel Macron can go that distance. It is understood there is some kind of agreement, some kind of negotiations
underway between the four, whether or not they can announce that deal within a deal. It is a tall order for Emmanuel Macron, simply because
Europe is fairly divided on the question of whether it should go that extra mile to meet Donald Trump`s requirements.
SOARES: Yes, for extra pressure from Europe too and we know that Chancellor Merkel is also visiting the U.S.
And, Jeremy, so from the way you explained it and the way that Melissa has set it up for us, it sounds like this is going to be a bit of a delicate
dance of diplomacy. And one perhaps suspect that John Bolton, his new national security adviser, will have the say of course in this. He`s a
longtime critic, as you may know, of the Iran deal. Does President Trump still believe it is a bad deal? Or do you believe he might go into this
with a slightly open mind?
[15:45:22] DIAMOND: Well, certainly the president`s public remarks on this issue and even his private conversations have indicated that he is truly
prepared to actually pull the United States from this deal. He does think it`s a deal. He does want serious changes made and some of those changes
truly are a tall order for some of these European allies to agree to. And so I that doesn`t happen and it seems like he very much will withdraw and
the appointment of John Bolton, his national security advisor really heightens a lot of those concerns. John Bolton was trashed the Iran deal
since before Donald Trump even was discussing it publicly, his comments on it certainly have increased that sense of urgency from European allies that
listen, this is not a bluff. That Donald Trump very well may pull out of this deal and withdrawn Bolton at his side that heightens that sense of
urgency that real changes need to be made or real negotiation needs to be undertaken in these last few weeks to keep the U.S. from withdrawing.
SOARES: Melissa, let`s talk about the friendship or bromance or whatever you want to call it, the reality of the Trump-Macron relationship as many
of us remember, didn`t actually get off to a very good start last year, but then things turned around and they developed what we can call a good
working relationship. How did that happen?
BELL: Well it is an interesting question. You are referring, of course, to that handshake, more arm wrestle than anything else, just under a year
ago and then a sense what you saw were two very determined presidents, both political newcomers sizing each other up and everything settled that they
have developed clearly what seems to be genuine, warmth and some kind of understanding with Emmanuel macron taking a very different approach to his
European allies saying, look, we need to keep this conversation going, if we`re going to make any progress at all. They`ve always ort of squared up
to each other, even as they declared their affection for one another. You saw it again on Syria just over a week ago having launched those
coordinated strikes. You have that very uncoordinated route with Emmanuel Macron essentially claiming to be driving U.S. policy more broadly in
Syria, explaining that is was -- to French media that he was he who convinced Donald Trump to say it. It took the White House five hours to
reply. He said, loo, U.S. policy in Syria is what it`s always been.
So there is both things in that relationship. And what`s so interesting about this state visit is that we`re going to be watching every moment of
it. The party language, the handshakes, the words and already it was really interesting to watch Emmanuel Macron walk out of that plane earlier
at Andrews Air Force base. He spoke in English, first of all, which he does very well. And then he added, explained the exactly same thing in
French, adding one phrase that he hadn`t said in England -- English which was it`s essentially, he`d come there as a guarantor of multilateralism.
And this is a big test. Can he make Donald Trump budge on any of the issues that divide them and particularly Iran and prove that in fact far
from being unilateralist, Donald Trump can somehow sometimes be brought around to other ways of thinking and function with allies on certain key
issues. The real test will come in this visit, Isa.
SOARES: Very much. Well, he`s been called by some the Trump whisperer. We shall see whether Macron can deliver. Melissa Bell for us in Paris.
Jeremy Diamond for us in Washington. Thank you very much to you both. We`ll have much more news after a very short break. Do stay right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:50:13] SOARES: If you are just joining us, let me bring you up to date with the breaking news we`ve been following the last 15 minutes or so. A
van has struck multiple pedestrians, we`ve been told in Toronto. It happened in the area of Yonge Street and Finch Avenue. Now paramedics are
on the scene and treating multiple patients, we`ve been told. Toronto police said the van has been found and the suspect has been arrested. One
local hospital says they had received seven patients from today`s incident. They are unable to provide details on the severity of those injuries.
Now, this is what we know at the time. It was roughly 1:30 p.m. in the afternoon, as you can see on a beautiful day there in Toronto. A vehicle
was being driven at speed. Two eyewitnesses has said between 60 and 70 kilometers an hour. The white van you`re looking at in your screen.
That`s right the Ryder. It is a rental company in North America. An official believe that is the van that the driver -- that the passenger is
bringing that into custody was driving suspect was driving. Then the person hit, we`ve been told, officials said between eight to 10 people that
was struck by the vehicle. But what we have heard from eyewitnesses and throughout the last 15 minutes or so, it is a scene of pandemonium. It is
gruesome what they`ve been telling us they have seen. One person that has saw six to eight body bags. The other person, the other eyewitness said he
saw three to four bodies. People basically getting CPR. Description of people lying in the sidewalk, as you saw there on that footage in pools of
bloods and just extremely gruesome. And people have been -- and eyewitnesses tell us they were in a state of shock.
I want to get the view of Paula Newton now who is usually based in Canada, joins me now in London. And, Paula, you and I have been following this
breaking news for the last hour or so. And just in the break, we were saying, this van drove a very long distance. I think we can bring that map
up and so the people can get a sense over exactly we`re looking at. And in order -- and hitting the pavement that had so -- at that time, you wouldn`t
expect would have that many people.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the point is if you are doing this deliberately, that you would have to drive a long distance
because the people would have been a bit sparse. So even on a beautiful day like today in Toronto. It is not strong with pedestrians anywhere
there, any time of the day really. It is certainly a commercial area. It`s a vibrant district that has a lot of immigrants in it. But at that
time of the day, yes, it`s more likely most people would have been out because it was a beautiful day. But that is the shock that we are hearing
from eyewitnesses, because even one eyewitness that I spoke to, spoke of the erratic driving which was noticed very quickly. This van was white.
It was a cargo van. A van spinning at that level, in that area of Toronto, at that hour would have gotten some attention. And as we have heard
already from the eyewitnesses. I mean, they were talking about people being pulled right off of their feet and really they seem to poor that we
have to deal with. You were talking about the hospital Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre has now also they received seven trauma patients and that
of course is a first-rate trauma center and they will indeed be doing what they can. I think again what is unnerving is that scenes that we have seen
of body bags and the eyewitnesses telling us of people already pronounced dead on the scene.
SOARES: And an eyewitness completely shaken as they explained it and tell us exactly what they saw. Of course, at this moment, we don`t know the
extent of the injuries. We do not know if this was an accident or if it`s something more nefarious. This is something that officials will be looking
to find now as apprehended the driver.
Now, Paula, do stay with us because we -- in the last few minutes in some new video from Toronto. CNN partner, CTV say they obtained it from a
viewer who does not want to be named. Now, it appears to show a person, a standoff with police. You can see it there. Between near the scene of the
incident. The person appears to be pointing a handgun. As you can see that`s left in your screen, a police officer and you can hear, "get down."
And keeps repeating "get down."
Now, CNN has not confirmed whether the person shown he is the suspect. Police took aide to custody. And Toronto police are not confirming the
standoff too to CNN, but say there`ll be more information and a press conference later. And you can still hear as you can hear there "get down."
And you can see a person on the ground and police apprehending this individual, the van that we were talking about that Ryder van, the rental
company. That is there just very close the person been -- you see one -- we believe one police officer and one person on the ground. Let`s listen.
Paula, as you look at this, and which is repeating to sort of those of you who didn`t see it. This is right next to where the van -- where the
vehicle stopped, wasn`t it? Look at the vehicle right there.
NEWTON: Yes, absolutely. As we have had reports from eyewitnesses, they had police officers speeding to the scene as soon as they heard even of the
erratic driving. There you see Toronto police on the scene. What`s extraordinary to me is that they actually took the time to tell him to get
down and that he did as he was told. Some eyewitnesses, and as you can see, as you and I have seen from that video, you don`t quite know if he`s
armed or not, because he seemed to have his arm up for a certain amount of time.
SOARES: Yes, you can`t tell.
NEWTON: And you can`t tell from that video because it`s still extraordinary to me that they had the patience to say, "get down" at that
point and down he went. They do have him in custody now and can begin what is going to be a very tough part of the investigation. Isa, I can tell you
that the public security minister should be coming up for a press conference at the top of the hour. He will have more information. But
Canadian authorities telling me that right now they have not taken the lead of this as a terror investigation as of yet. That doesn`t mean anything.
Again, they will look to Toronto police to really lead this investigation as of now, because in terms of trying to track this suspect, where he came
from, where the van came from. It will be Toronto police that will know best at this minute. Toronto and Canada`s RCMP will be brought in if
indeed this has escalated to any kind of a terror investigation. We are not there yet. We expect to hear more though at the top of the hour.
SOARES: Yes. Top of the hour. We`ll have a press conference. Of course, we do not know if this was an accident. If this is something that was
deliberate. Of course, we haven`t seen, Paula, a lot of -- hearing Europe in particular and for that Europe vans and cars being used as a form of
terrorism.
NEWTON: Even in Canada, we have had two specific car incidents, one in which a soldier was killed and other was an incident where someone tried to
attack a police officer with a car in Edmonton. So it`s not that these scenes are unheard of. But this really will be a watershed moment in
Canada if indeed this is a terror incident, because so many victims and in the middle of Canada`s largest city. Again, many people -- we could hear
them, couldn`t we? And their voices, how shaken they were by what they had seen on a beautiful sunny day.
SOARES: Describing a pandemonium. Describing pandemonium if you`re just joining us, the breaking news that we`ve been following. A van, a vehicle,
as you saw basically driven at speed before mounting pavement then coming to a stop. The person has been apprehended. We do not know the level of
injuries at the moment. But this is something we shall find out in the next 30 minutes from the authorities. CNN will take on top of this
breaking news story. Do stay right here with CNN. We of course the world`s news leader.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:00:11] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.
END
