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Terrorists In London Kill 7, Injure 48; President Trump Sparks Backlash in U.K. After Criticizig Mayor of London; Ariana Grande Addresses Crowd At Tribute Concert; Beefed Up Security In New York Following UK Terror Attack; 36 Peoples Still Hospitalized In London Terror Attacks; London Eyewitness Recalls Night Of Terror. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired June 4, 2017 - 16:00   ET

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


[16:00:00] CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Authorities have just towed the van from the scene. They say three masked men drove towards the borough market and abandoned the vehicle and went on a stabbing spree. Seven people are dead, 48 injured. Those three attackers were quickly shot and killed by the police. Twelve others have been arrested.

It is the second terror attack in the UK in just 12 days. And although there are no initial indication that they are connected, British Prime Minister Theresa May says that were carried out because of quote "evil ideology of Islamic extremism."

But the Brits are vowing to stay strong. A benefit concert for the victims of last month's attack in neighboring Manchester is under way, already raising hundreds of thousands of dollars.

We have a team of reporters covering all angles of this story. But I want to start first with our CNN senior national correspondent Alex Marquardt who are to joins me.

Alex, tell us what the latest is on the investigation.

ALEXANDER MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the police today have provided a fuller picture of how this attack went down, completing the timeline. We know that this attack now started just before 10:00 p.m. at 9:58. It was only ten minutes later that the police responded to the attack on the bridge. When they did respond they were in the borough market which is where the attackers are carrying out this stabbing spree.

Now, the police were able to take down the attackers in a hail of gunfire. And remember, most officers - police officers in this country don't have firearms. So this is incredibly rare. The police fired some 50 bullets at the attackers which the assistant commissioner of the metropolitan police today called unprecedented. And the reason they fired so many bullets at those attackers was because they were afraid that they would have suicide vests. They had what looked like suicide vest on them. They turned out to be fake suicide vests. In that crossfire, one person was hurt. We understand that the number

wounded now is 36 in the hospital, 21 of whom are critically wounded. So the death toll is now stands at seven, could go up.

WARD: And Alex, do we know anything more about who the attackers are, what motivated them?

MARQUARDT: Well, the police are saying that they are making significant progress in terms of identifying the attackers. But we are not learning too much more who they are. The police say they are confident that they are the only ones who directly carried out this attack. That's why they haven't elevated that terror alert level.

Meanwhile, the police are carrying out raids specifically in the eastern part of London called (INAUDIBLE). And they have not indicated so far how these 12 people who have they arrested, how they are connected to those three attackers.

WARD: All right. Still a fluid situation. CNN's Alex Marquardt, thank you so much.

Let's talk more about today's searches, raised and arrests across London. I'm joined now by CNN international correspondent, Melissa Bell.

Melissa, who was arrested, why? Tell us what you can. What are you hearing?

MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Several arrests were made here early this morning, Clarissa, in this tower block on the eastern out securities of London, and a part of London called (INAUDIBLE), just outside.

Now, what we are hearing, we are hearing from locals, because the police told they are here and they kept this building cordoned off ever since about 7:00 a.m. local time. They are remaining extremely tight-lipped.

So what we are hearing from locals, first of all, is that several groups of people were seen being taken away from this spot. A group of men, first of all, also a group of women they say who were arrested, too.

Now, as for the identity of the man who lived here, and they say they recognize from those photographs which have been circulating now for several hours from London Bridge of the dead attackers, they say they recognized one of them. And what we heard from a bunch of locals here today is that they recognized the man as their neighbor. But there was nothing that might have led them in the past to believe that this was a man who might carry out the horror of what we saw on London Bridge last night.

Here's what one of the locals had to say about the man he noticed his neighbor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOSEPH SILVER, NEIGHBOR OF ONE OF THE LONDON ATTACKERS: I haven't seen him. I just saw him the day before but I haven't seen him yesterday or today. Like I said before, just a regular guy, just happy guy when I would see him, have a quick chat. He is a kid played (INAUDIBLE) someone I was OK with him. No issues. Nothing. (INAUDIBLE). Like everyone else around the area. So I don't have a single bad word to say about him. I don't have anything to report because there was nothing ever bad that has ever happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BELL: Now, one other neighbor, a woman, (INAUDIBLE) did tell us a while ago that she also recognized the man as her neighbor. But that she had had a run-in with him, that she reported him to the police a couple years ago because she spotted him in the local playground giving sweets to the children and trying to convert them to Islam, telling them about the benefits of becoming a Muslim. And she gone up and confronted him and then reported him to the police and very little feedback thereof so about one had transpired and whether or not the man had ever been officially confronted by the police about his behavior.

But again, so we're dealing with a situation where everyone here says they recognized from those very grainy pictures from London Bridge last night, the man that say lived here. But there is no official confirmation, there has been no identification of any of those attackers by the police.

[16:05:26] WARD: All right, Melissa Bell at the scene of one of those raised.

Martin, back to you.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN HOST: Thanks, Clarissa.

Here in this country, President Trump has sparked a backlash in the United Kingdom after criticizing these remarks from Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR SADIQ KHAN, LONDON: London will see increased police presence today and of the course of the next few days. No reason to be alarmed. One of the things the police and all of us need to do is make sure we are as safe as we possibly can be. I am reassured that we are one of the safest global cities in the world if not the safest city in the world. But we always evolve and review ways to make sure that we remain as safe as we possibly can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: CNN's Athena Jones is at the White House with all of the details including some new comments from the acting U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom -- Athena.

ATHENA JONES, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Martin. Well, this is -- the reaction we saw from President Trump is not the

kind of reaction we are used to seeing from an American president in responding to such a tragedy. President Trump essentially taking to twitter to pick a fight with the mayor of London tweeting early this morning, at least seven dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and mayor of London say this is no reason to be alarmed exclamation point.

Of course, what you just played the clip from the mayor and he was talking about the increased presence on the streets of London and that shouldn't be alarming. And so, the president was clearly misconstruing that mayor Khan's spokesperson accused President Trump of deliberately taking the mayor's words out of context. Here is part of what the mayor's spokesperson said I a response.

He said the mayor is busy working with the police, emergency services and the government to coordinate the response to this horrific and cowardly terror attack. He has more important things to do than respond to Donald Trump's ill-informed tweet.

And of course that tweet sparking a lot of criticism from politicians, from the two major party is in the UK, a labor politician saying the tweet was cheap, nasty and unbecoming of a national leader. And perhaps in response to that criticism, we have this new tweet that you mentioned from the U.S. embassy in London, the acting ambassador saying I commend the strong leadership of the mayor of London as he leads the city forward after this heinous attack. So that tweet clearly aimed at showing as more support and less criticism to the city of London, the major of London.

I should mention, though, that last night among the tweets the president posted in the hours after the attack was a tweet offering support that the U.S. would do whatever it can to help out the folks in the UK, saying we are with you, God bless. But that tweet this morning criticizing mayor Khan clearly getting a lot of negative reaction there in the UK -- Martin.

SAVIDGE: That is putting it mildly. Athena Jones, thank you very much for that.

The city of Manchester, north of London, still reeling from its own terror attack less than two weeks ago. Now, we will take you live to the benefit concert that is now under way honoring those victims.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:12:45] WARD: Witnesses to last night's brutal attack in London's borough market just behind me are telling chilling stories of terror and survival. But one man return to the scene today not to see the aftermath but to pay for his bill at the restaurant he had pled as the attacks unfolded and he had quite a message for his fellow residents. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD ANGELI, EYEWITNESS: The staff are actually wonderful. Not only have they provided a wonderful meal which I recommend to anyone who comes to London should come to the (INAUDIBLE) and go to the Brilliant Restaurant I was at last night. But when the staff had to worry about their own life, they actually turned and faced --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So tell us what happened?

ANGELI: So we were at a restaurant with some friends of mine. Someone was come in and said (INAUDIBLE) to London. We were sitting at the table nearest the door. And suddenly, it became apparent the security for borough market was saying lock the door and duck and hide. And we knew there was an incident happening. And this guy wedged his foot in the door and kept it closed while they found the key locked it. People panicked now unreasonably, turn down the tables, food is going everywhere, chairs, trying to get refuge from what was about to happen and then fearing the worse about to unfold in front of people.

I then saw a guy opposite throw a table at someone. And it's unclear about what that meant. It turned out this heroic guy who saw what these guys were doing and threw glasses and tables at them to try to stop them from hurting this poor young women who they were stabbing. He was remarkable. He was one of the heroes of the day. And then we - then I looked out, there was a guy leaving the restaurant just next to where we were. And he was covered in blood, holding his chest or neck in some way and he was clearly injured. And I really hope he got the paramedic help the clearly and desperately need. I haven't heard about his story but hope he was OK today.

And then, we also tried to get to safety, get him upstairs, tried to stop and doing rush things of opening the fire escape and going out into what could have been even worse or unknown danger. There was a pregnant lady, we need to get her a stool, a glass of water and calm space to be in.

And then we are locked down for about 25, 30 minutes, I think and the police swept through, brilliantly, professionally to get an in eight minutes it turned out, we heard one lot of gunfire. So we sweep again and again and then heard a second lot. And it felt like an age between those two lots of gunfire. But apparently it was just eight minutes and they did their job absolutely remarkably.

And then, after some time, the restaurant opposite where we were evacuated and people were able to leave. And we were next and they asked us to get ready. The pregnant lady we got her to the front so she could get out first. We wanted her to be safety first. And then (INAUDIBLE) should go out and there was people's shoes that they had taken off, clothes, blood, victims, food, debris of all kinds around.

And three things struck me about the emergency services. Like I know they did their job brilliantly. Secondly, our eyes and ears where we were just wandering through they were keeping our backs. And thirdly, the paramedics, and maybe I knew this already, but I had not thought this before. They run at the danger and turn their back to the danger to treat whoever is in front of them and they try to put together the life in front of them while we are running for our lives. And how brave and marvelous they are, just really struck with me. And I might not ever meet the people who made decisions that save potentially my life and other people but, of course, we are proud what they do and their family who must sit home every day worrying whether they come home. We are so thankful for them and what they do, you know.

[16:16:33] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think there will be a dry eye in the house as you are telling your story. You are absolutely right. You are talking about these men and women that run towards the danger, some standing behind us today.

And we are just yards away what you just described to me which only happened about 20 hours ago. When you look up the road and you consider where you are, what do you think now?

ANGELI: As I'm more scared now than I was then in a bizarre way, but more clear that these people cannot should not will not win. We can't have a situation where they seek to divide our city. Our brilliant mayor Sadiq Khan spoke to all of us today where he talked about what unites the city, what brings us together. And we have to carry on loving each other, living with each other, being from different parts of the world in the melting pot that is London. And I'm going to go back to that restaurant and hope other people do, too. Because if us, you know, drinking gin and tonics and flirting with handsome men and being friends with brilliant and powerful women offenders these people so much they do those barbaric vial and cowardly acts, I'm going to go back and would do it more, not less.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good boy.

ANGELI: And that's what London is going to do. And we are going to pull together. Manchester show brilliant best in the last few weeks. It's London's turn and we are up for the fight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WARD: An incredibly powerful positive message there.

Well, 12 people are now under arrest as the investigation continues. And I want to bring in Dal Babu, a former chief superintendent of the metropolitan police and was one of the highest ranking Muslims on the force.

We know there have been a dozen arrests so far. From your experience, what do you think will be happening in the investigation right now?

DAL BABU, FORMER CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT OF THE METROPOLITAN POLICE: Well, Clarissa, it's a fast moving investigation. What they want to do is get as much intelligence as they possibly can. And you will see being arrested who are associates. They link -- the van has been hired. They link the individuals using that van by credit cards or maybe some CCTV. They will then goes seize in mobile phones. They will be looking at interconnecting calls. They will be looking at internet changes or correspondence individuals have had. So there will be a huge amount of intelligence gathering at this stage.

WARD: And I guess the question becomes, what more can be done to protect soft targets like bar and market, like these pubs and restaurants, where people go out regularly in the evenings? Is there anything that can be done to improve protection?

BABU: I think the key thing is that we need to make sure that community come forward. The community have confidence in the police service and authorities. They will come forward if they have any concerns about individualized who they believe have been radicalized and they cause harm.

London is incredibly diverse place. One in eight in London's population are Muslim. Almost half of the population now from minority background, for large part, 99.9 percent of London, everybody lives very happily. And there is no problem regardless of individual sexuality, their gender, their faith, everybody lives cheek by jowl and they were very happy. I think the individuals who have tried to cause harm to our community have been dealt with and the police acted phonily quickly eight minutes from the time they got the call to (INAUDIBLE) killing these terrorists. If they hadn't killed at the time they did, then they wouldn't carried (INAUDIBLE) damage.

In this country, we don't have the liberal and the use of guns. And we have very, very strict rules on guns. And that made a huge difference. So the individuals were perpetrating the violence by the van that struck innocent members of the public who were walking across London Bridge. But then, they used knives. If they had guns it would have been a much worse situation than it was. As it is we lost tragically. We lost seven lives. And some individuals in hospital including police officers, some police officers off-duty who were tackling these individualized.

So I think, you know, in answer to your question, you know, what can we do? I think it's about community confidence and about making sure that we are using the community -- asking the community help and actually giving the community confidence that their information will be dealt with quickly and appropriately.

[16:20:58] WARD: So just briefly, let me ask you, did you think it was fair when Prime Minister Theresa May said Britain has been too tolerant of terrorism and that there needs to be a review of counter- terrorism procedures?

BABU: Well, I think she is right in saying that we need to review counter-terrorism. In Britain we have something called prevent which is basically looking at stopping radicalization. The Muslim community and indeed other individuals like the independent review, terrorism legislation, teachers, and people in all walks of life have got concerns because there isn't a trust of this program. I mean, it is absolutely essential that prevents strategy has the trust of the community. So, you know, if the government reviews that, I think it's a good thing.

I think the other thing that the prime minister said which is very, very important is about holding to account the internet companies, the giant social media companies who make billions of profit, and allow and give a platform inadvertently or advertently to extremist organizations. So if you look at Daesh (ph), it is (INAUDIBLE). There is a very, very small area THAT they are trying to protect (INAUDIBLE) in the Middle East. But what they are doing is sending out their hate via the internet. So we need to spend more resources and particularly the internet companies need to be held to account to make sure if there is any extremism on there, anything that shows that people's lives are going to be threatened, that they contact the authorities immediately and we do what we can to arrest these individuals or stop them using hate-filled language.

WARD: All right. Dal Babu, thank you so much for joining us.

And we will have much more from the scene here in London. That's next. Stay with us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Regardless of what you are believing or where you stand with politics or any kind of faith, I feel like it has united the people against such a terrible, terrible thing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:22:21] WARD: At least 12 people have been arrested following yesterday's deadly terror attacks in London.

Joining me now is CNN international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson.

Nic, what are you hearing? What is the latest on the police investigation?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Clarissa, the latest update from the police is that they are making significant progress, the investigation is continuing a pace that they believe in know the identity of the three attackers. Those 12 arrests and the property searchers have all come in the east of London. The police are not giving an indication of who the 12 people that they have arrested.

If we compare this to the recent attacks in Britain, the initial arrest have often been of the location where the suspect was staying or living or close friends in the recent weeks and months. There's no indication that isn't the case this time. The police, however, are not confirming that at the moment. The police are saying that they are making good progress and there is a lot more to do, that this is fast paced and it is moving for this investigation is all about ascertaining the facts they have them. The white Reno van that they say that was rented by one of the attackers that entered London Bridge at two minutes that's on local time last night. The police arriving and killing the attackers within eight minutes of the police getting the call.

So right now, it does seem that there is a possibility at this stage that three attackers were from London, possibly east London. The police are not saying that. But that does seem to be the early interference at least from the first steps, the public steps that we can see the police are taking to chase this all down -- Clarissa.

WARD: And Nic, how are people responding to the British Prime Minister Theresa May's comments earlier that Britain has been too tolerant for too long and that there needs to be a review of its counter-terrorism policies?

ROBERTSON: You know, there have been a number of comments. I think where everyone seems to coalesce and agree, and I was speaking with a leader of a Muslim community here before, you know, who pushed back on the notion that there are areas and communities -- some Muslim communities in this country are too soft on terrorism and too supportive in a way. He pushed back by telling you that look, the Muslim community here has been long speaking out against terrorism, long trying to get something done about it. That it's not the right solution to blame the Muslim communities, to blame the imams and blame the mosque because he said that the place where people are being recruited and radicalized now is in fact online. And that certainly coalesces with what we heard the prime minister say, they have to be denied the space.

[16:30:00] So the space today is on the internet. That this is a new threat. It is a different threat. And that we must know - that the governments around the world must work with internet service providers around the world with media -- social media platforms around the world to find ways to deny this radical -- this platform as a potential radicalization. So, that's where I think there is - there is widespread support. I've certainly heard former police officers and counter-terrorism officials saying the same thing, Clarissa.

WARD: All right, Nic Robertson, thank you. Just moments ago, an emotional Ariana Grande addressed the crowds at the One Love Tribute Concert in Manchester telling them, "I love you and I think that the kind of love and unity you are displaying is the kind of medicine that the world needs right now." Well, CNN International Correspondent, Phil Black is there. I mean, Phil, the scenes are just epic. Those crowds are enormous. Give us a sense of the mood there.

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is extraordinary, Clarissa, it really is. This crowd has been so loud, so warm, and just so happy to be here. We're going to move the camera now and give you a sense of what we're seeing. As we speak, Coldplay, the British band is on stage belting out their classic hit, "I will fix you." The crowd is singing along at the same time.

A short time ago, there was a very special moment when Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay with Arianne Grande, really the hostess of this event singing what has become Manchester's after mood over the last two weeks or so. It is the old song, "Don't Look Back In Anger." We've heard people singing it in Manchester for weeks now.

A short time ago, we heard this hallowed crowd of 50,000 people singing it together as one, so really, so much emotion here, so much positivity and joy. It is almost difficult sometimes to remember that this is all about something totally terrible that happened here, that this the same community that is being dealing with the trauma of terrorism now for two weeks and that many of the people in this crowd were in fact part of that concert or among the fans targeted at Ariana Grande's concert at the Manchester Arena just two weeks ago, Clarissa.

WARD: Just an incredible inspiring scene, Phil Black, thank you so much and we will have much more breaking news out of London, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:35:00] SAVIDGE: And the U.S. several governors have already reacted to last night's terror attack on London Bridge, many of them sending condolences. In New York, Governor Cuomo says that he will be stepping up security around airports, bridges and tunnels that as a precaution. For more on this, I am joined now by CNN Correspondent, Kristen Holmes and Kristen what are the reactions we're hearing from across the country?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Martin, of course, after any attack like this, we see a heightened concern around security. Here at home, the Department Of Homeland Security quickly issuing a statement last night, saying that there was no information of a specific or credible threat on the United States now across the country. We've heard U.S. officials and police departments echoing that sentiment. But as you mentioned, cities like New York, Boston, Los Angeles are urging residents to remain vigilant as always and not to be alarmed if they see an increase in police presence. Let's take a listen to New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL DE BLASIO, NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: New Yorkers today will see a heavier presence at key locations around the city. You will see a stronger police presence including our counter-terror forces.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And they just want to note one more specific reaction here or response from Florida Governor, Rick Scott. He did tweet, "Praying for London. Terror continues to hurt England and it must stop." Now, the governor of course knowing firsthand how something like that can impact a community, it has been almost exactly one year since he's out of Florida specifically Orlando, the second deadliest attack - the most deadly attack on U.S. soil since 9/11.

SAVIDGE: All right, Kristen Holmes, thank you very much for that. President Trump also has been taking to Twitter to offer condolences but also to express outrage and take a jab at the Mayor of London in the wake of the attacks. Shortly after the incident, the president tweeted, "Whatever the United States can do to help out in London and the UK we will be there. We are with you, God bless."

But his tone changed a bit this morning after London's Mayor, Sadiq Khan urged his citizens to not be alarmed by an increase in police on the city streets. The president tweeting in response, "At least seven dead, 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is no reason to be alarmed," exclamation point, here to discuss, Brian Morganstern, Republican Strategist and Ellis Henican, he writes the Trump's America Column for the Metro Papers. Thank you both for being with this afternoon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Martin. SAVIDGE: Bryan, let me ask you this. Would the president, it would seem, taking a tragedy of terror and trying to use it to a political advantage, how is that in anyway acceptable for the leader of the free world?

[16:40:00] BRIAN MORGANSTERN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: A political advantage towards with the end of preventing terrorism, I mean his response was a little closer to Theresa May's whose reaction was to say, "We've tolerated this extremism long enough. Enough is enough. We're going to take strong security measures and to root out this evil ideology, this poison that has now affected the British twice just in the last few weeks and of course the United States knows it well having experienced not only 9/11 but...

(CROSSTALK)

SAVIDGE: If he had said enough is enough that might have been a powerful statement, but that was not what he said. He immediately went into an issue that is in the court and his second tweet seemed to be the one he should have sent first.

MORGANSTERN: The -- I'm sorry. I don't think I understand your question. The second tweet about the - about no reason to be harmed or...

SAVIDGE: We're with you.

MORGANSTERN: Right, so that of course, the sympathy is welcomed but also what should -- is a proper response is, "This is unacceptable behavior, we're going to do whatever we can to stop it and we're going to be tough. We're going to stand up to any sort of extremism." And so, you know, that seems consistent with that. I think President Trump's plainspoken nature tends to - tends to rub some people the wrong way. But, I think the message there is fairly common sense that we're going to stand up to these people and, you know, to extremists and we're going to make sure they can't bring harm to us again.

SAVIDGE: Ellis, I didn't get the outrage that apparently is being explained to me. What did you get?

ELLIS HENICAN, METRO PAPERS COLUMNIST: It sounded to me like a buffoon in church heckling the priest in the middle of a homily. I mean, it's completely unacceptable, right to harass the Mayor of London while he's out trying to deal with this thing in a responsible way to calm his own citizens to urge them not give in to the - to the natural fears at a time like this.

Every single other leader and even Rick Scott in Florida who's not always the smoothest character, understood that a time like this, what you do you express them sympathy. You express resolve not to be cowed by these evil people and you leave your political debates for another day. And also, to bring up gun control, did you notice that?

(CROSSTALK)

HENICAN: I didn't notice any gun issue here because these guys used knives. It is sadly, Martin, yet another example of president missing not only the substance but the tone at an important time.

SAVIDGE: Brian, why is there no official release from the White House? Why are the official words just coming in 140 characters?

MORGANSTERN: Well, who needs an official release when the president himself can speak to the American people and people around the world, you know, at a moment's notice he can just fire it off himself, but to Ellis, I mean liberals frequently, you know, don't want to let tragedies go to waste. The president has an agenda that include security measures to fight back against terrorism and he wants to make sure that people are vigilant.

That he express sympathy but not only sympathy also that we're going to be tough in the face of adversity and that we're going to stand up for our open societies and our western values and that we won't, you know, cow in fear. And to the Mayor of London, I mean he said, of course, you know, people shouldn't be alarmed at the increased security presence, but why is there an increased security presence, because they've - because the Brits have experienced two terror attacks in the last couple of weeks.

SAVIDGE: But, Brian, you know, that's not what the president said. The president said, and he was taking apparently either he misconstrued what the Mayor of London said or he purposely mispresented it by implying that the mayor...

MORGANSTERN: Martin, Martin...

SAVIDGE: ...and the people should not be alarmed, that's very clear.

MORGANSTERN: But Martin, that is reductionist, because he was saying, don't be alarmed by the increased police presence that, you know, I agree, but why is there increased police presence, it's because there was a terrorist attack just a couple weeks after another one.

(CROSSTALK)

[16:45:00] HENICAN: Hold on a second. There's a reason why this is especially off kilter here. I mean Donald Trump is someone who lived through 9/11 in New York, right? He understands at a time like this it's very important for leaders to exert some calm and some control. What I remember from 9/11 incidentally on Trump was that what he -- the way he reacted to that was just as crazy, right? Remembering a partying Muslims, a whole series of things, it will just cooked up in some kind of political fantasy somewhere that were exactly the wrong signals. I do think maybe we're getting some shadows of that again.

SAVIDGE: Well, Rudy Giuliani, you know, is a man who is considered to be a hero of that time.

HENICAN: He did fine at that.

SAVIDGE: And showed leadership. The question is here, it looks like you're showing politics and that's the point I'm getting to, Brian.

HENICAN: Yes and timing - and timing matters, too. You know, it's fine to have that debate three or four days later when we're talking about a policy prescription. But, for the first - the first thing out of your fingers to be heckling the local mayor and frankly truly taking out of context what the guy said, he didn't say we should not be alarmed at the terror attack. He said, "Hey, folks, if you see a lot of armed police officers around, don't let that scare you into cowering on your couch, get out and be tough Londoners like we know you."

(CROSSTALK)

HENICAN: ...that's a perfectly appropriate message.

[16:50:00] MORGANSTERN: Well, why are they there? Because we've had these terror attacks twice just in the last couple of weeks in Britain and the president is trying to, you know, project strength as opposed to the sort of knee-jerk, you know, reaction of many, which is, oh, let's brace for the backlash against people who are not actually associated with it but who are maybe peaceful Muslim people and of course that's - that's worthwhile as well. But the toughness that I think Theresa May has projected and that President Trump has projected is what a lot of Americans appreciate and it's plainspoken nature...

SAVIDGE: Well, I will point out that you are right, that it did sound like the Theresa May had more Trump in the way that she expressed her feelings today. Let me bring this up, the acting ambassador to the United Kingdom seemingly seems to be at odds with the President Trump's view.

He put out in his own tweet, the ambassador or here's what he said, "Strong leadership of Sadiq Khan is noteworthy and given between the ISIS" - this is not an exact quote. Let me read it to you, "I commend the strong leadership of the Mayor of London as he leaves the city towards" or "forward after this heinous attack".

That seems like the statement that should have come from the President of the United States and not an acting ambassador.

HENICAN: That's fine, Martin. And this isn't a new territory. I mean, we've had about 50 dress rehearsals for this. So, you can't say, well, hey, we just didn't know how to respond in a difficult situation. These things really at this point sadly they follow a template of what strong and balanced leaders do. And I've got to tell you, I just think this would seem to ham handed to a lot of people around the world.

SAVIDGE: All right, I got to get Brian in. Brian, please - I mean is it just this is the way our president is?

MORGANSTERN: Well, to an extent, yes. But - and he was elected for a reason. People don't want the same rehearsed remarks and thoughts and prayers. I mean people are tired of that. They want action. And I think the president is trying to convey the urgency that he feels and that other Americans and others in Britain as well feel that they're tired of this status quo. They're not willing to accept the regularity of terror attacks. They want their leaders to take strong actions in a strong stance. You know, I understand some people are rubbed the wrong way by that, but I - but that -- it's just a different attitude. He's trying to change the status quo.

SAVIDGE: Brian Morgenstern and Ellis Henican, thank you both for joining me today.

HENICAN: Good seeing you.

SAVIDGE: We'll be right back.

[16:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WARD: We're still following developments from last night's terror attack here in London. One of the places hit was the Borough Market area just behind me where people were stabbed by the attackers and I want to bring in now, Liam Connell. You were actually, if I'm not mistaken, in one of these bars that the attackers entered that began stabbing people. Tell me everything that you saw.

LIAM CONNELL, EYEWITNESS: I saw as in cats in jammo (ph). So, we went actually - the attacks there come to by bar (ph), but we decided to advocate by bar staff and then we were told that it was actually safer for us to stay inside. So, we were downstairs in like a basement area. And everyone tired on this (ph) then it wasn't until we just heard stuff that the police shouting get down, get down, get down that we also just hit the floor and told there was an incident and we were to -- whenever we see armed police, we were to fall to the floor.

WARD: And were you petrified at that point?

CONNELL: Yes. It was kind of like surreal because at first we didn't know what actually happened. So, I was told that there was a shooting. I was told that there was a stabbing. I was also told about car, but obviously (ph) my friends and I said, no, this is fine night (full) is going to be some solo incident and it turned into this big thing.

It wasn't until the armed police left and we were allowed to sit down normally and I was filming the whole thing. And one of my friends said, "I think this person behind you came from outside." So, I turned around and it was a man and it looked like he was riding a Balaclava but when we went over to speak to him, he was just saying to us, "I've been stabbed. I've been stabbed." And...

WARD: He had been stabbed?

CONNELL: He said, yes. He said to us he had been stabbed so we sat him down. My friend was like trying to calm him down and trying to find out what happened to you, you just keep saying (ph) that you've been stabbed while I - after I hold this bandage against his throat, I mean like he wasn't profusely bleeding but there was blood but we said to it the police and said about he needed an ambulance. And they said the roads were blocked and they would do it in a minute and that I find someone and they manage to get paramedic like totally it's OK.

WARD: And so, what's going through your mind in those moments? Are you thinking this is a terrorist attack? We're not safe? Are you focused just on the mission at hand? CONNELL: Well, I was filming and tweeting everything so that everybody (ph) knows what's happening. But like, the initial thing was on the floor, like texting family and friends, just like what was happening, saying that we were safe but, you know, everyone was sort of sending love back home.

And then there was a point where the police said, don't worry, guys, you're all safe. And it was really a nice moment because they said you're all safe here and everyone started cheering and clapping and then once again we have to hit the floor and then we're evacuated and the police were absolutely incredible at the hallway.

I mean, that was the first time I've been to London Bridge for drinks and stuff. So, we were kind of just running, didn't know what we're running to but there was police every step of the way. Everyone was thanking the police as they went pass them. Yes, it was nice...

WARD: And what was your reaction when you found out that seven people lost their lives?

CONNELL: It's crazy, like we got home about 4:00 a.m. and then - oh no, no sorry, not 4:00 a.m., that was half 1:00. And it was just the moment that we realized that we were like in terror attack, it's strange to think. You don't think that would happen and yes, it's - it's just...

WARD: Well, we are very, very glad that you are safe. We thank you for sharing your story with us and your bravery is inspiring. Liam, thank you so much for joining.

And thank you all for watching our braking news coverage from here. I'm Clarissa Ward in London.

[17:00:00] SAVIDGE: And I'm Martin Savidge. Thanks for joining us. CNN Special Coverage continues right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANA CABRERA, ANCHOR: You're on the CNN NEWSROOM. Thanks for being with us on this Sunday. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York.

WARD: And live in London, I'm Clarissa Ward.