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ISIS Claiming Responsibility For Easter Sunday Attacks In Sri Lanka; The Supreme Court Upholds The Conviction Of Two Reuters Reporters In Myanmar; House Judiciary Committee Has Issued A Subpoena For Don McGahn; Sri Lankan Prime Minister Answers Questions About Easter Sunday Attacks. Aired: 8-9a ET

Aired April 23, 2019 - 08:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A national day of mourning in Sri Lanka.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Here on the grounds of this church, they were holding funerals for more than 100 people who

were killed here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A coordinated bombing, they were in retaliation for the New Zealand mosque attack.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has decided to uphold the conviction of two Reuters reporters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It damaged the prestige of a country and it damaged the press freedom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And their only hope, an unlikely pardon from Myanmar's de facto leader.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are growing disagreements facing Democrats, whether to begin the impeachment process of the President based on the

Mueller investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They really risk their voters' patience.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you worried about impeachment, Mr. President?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Not even a little bit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Welcome to NEWS STREAM. Thanks for joining me. I'm Robyn Curnow here in Atlanta. So the latest news from Sri Lanka. ISIS is claiming

responsibility for those Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka. Now that's according to a statement put out by the ISIS news agency. The claim states

the attackers who targeted citizens of the anti-ISIS coalition, state members and Christians in Sri Lanka the day before yesterday were fighters

of the Islamic State.

While earlier Sri Lankan officials said there may be a link between Sunday's bombings and the mass shooting last month in Christchurch, New

Zealand. The Defense Minister says the Easter attacks on several hotels and churches were retaliation for what happened in Christchurch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUWAN WIJEWARDENE, SRI LANKAN STATE DEFENSE MINISTER (Through a translator): We have information that this attack was carried out by a

radical Islamist group as retaliation for the attack at the mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand by an extremist. We're investigating further

into this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Hundreds of people died in these attacks. This community north of Colombo was hit particularly hard with more than 100 people killed at Saint

Sebastian's Church. So for the latest, let's go to the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo. Will Ripley is standing by. Will, just talk us through where

you are, and of course these new lines that have just emerged.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so I am standing on Galle Face Boulevard. Robyn, when we spoke this time or a little bit later

than this time yesterday, the street was completely deserted. That's because the curfew was in effect. There will be another curfew tonight, by

the way from 9:00 p.m. local time until early in the morning hours here. The reason for that is simple.

Authorities just don't know if they have contained all of these members of this terrorist organization that is now, it was suspected of being inspired

by ISIS, now, ISIS is claiming that in fact, the people who carried out this attack were soldiers for the so-called Islamic State.

I want to show you some of the security procedures. As we walk over here, you can see these guards here, heavily armed. You see them all over the

city and then head over to the right of that hotel there, you can see there's a truck trying to get into the gate. Every vehicle that wants to

go to the hotel is checked at the gate. And a lot of times, they may not be allowed in. If they are allowed in, there were bomb sniffing dogs,

security sweeps, and that goes for guests as well.

Now, what we're learning here is that now that ISIS has made this claim of responsibility, it only backs up what U.S. Intelligence has been saying for

more than a day now that they thought that these attacks were inspired by ISIS. But what does that mean? They've identified six suicide bombers.

Who else is out there? That's really the unanswered question that the government is trying to figure out right now, Robyn.

They have warned people not to assemble in public places. Although, I can tell you when I was out at the city today, even in areas that didn't have

security like this, we saw large crowds of people at shrines you know, praying for the more than 300 people who were killed and the hundreds more

who remain in hospital at this hour.

And when I asked people if they were afraid of gathering in public areas, given the fact that there is a warning out right now for people to be on

alert to look out on the streets for a van or a truck potentially packed with explosives, people said, yes, they are afraid, but they're still going

to go on with their lives here.

But obviously, the curfew is in effect, the state of emergency in effect, the government trying to do its best to identify and arrest anybody who may

be linked to this terror group that is now definitively linked to ISIS -- Robyn.

CURNOW: And what are people making -- how much weight so they putting in to these comments coming from one of the Ministers saying that there was a

connection or a link or a retaliation involved here with regard to the Christchurch attacks?

RIPLEY: People are obviously wondering what the motive is going to be. They were wondering if it was somebody here trying to incite violence

between Christians and Muslims, which are both minorities in this country which has a 70 percent Buddhist population. However, the link to

Christchurch, some people have said to us today that it makes sense to them, that this is that this attack was in fact retaliation for the attacks

on mosques in Christchurch.

[08:05:06] RIPLEY: But I will tell you and we're going to have this story in the coming hours on CNN, I interviewed a Muslim who attended a funeral

of his friends and neighbors, a family of four who were all killed over at Saint Anthony's shrine. It was a mother and father and their two

daughters, ages seven and one.

He is Muslim, and he told me that his faith has nothing to do with the kind of animal in his words who carried out this attack, somebody who would walk

into a church packed with people, or walk into a high-end hotel like the Shangri La or the Kingsbury just down the street or the Cinnamon Grand down

that way, somebody who'd walk in, deliberately surround themselves with children and families and then blow themselves up.

He said, there's no place in his religion or any religion for somebody who would do something like that -- Robyn.

CURNOW: Yes, that's a good point. Will Ripley there on the ground in Colombo, thanks so much for bringing us that latest update. Thanks, Will.

So we know that several countries have issued travel warnings and alerts against traveling to Sri Lanka, the U.S., Australia, China, South Korea,

and others. Sri Lanka itself is on knife's edge as you can hear from Will's reporting. And here you see security personnel standing guard near

Saint Anthony's Church in the capital, where police recently diffused a bomb there.

So joining me now to discuss all of these new lines of inquiries, Sajjan M. Gohel is an International Security Director for the Asia Pacific

Foundation. Sajjan, thanks for joining us. So there's a lot that's kind of unfolding in the last hour or two. We have a Minister saying that this

is linked to the Christchurch bombings, we also have ISIS now claiming responsibility.

At the same time police are trying to still mop up any other potential bombers or bombs that are out there. So what do you make of all of this?

SAJJAN M. GOHEL, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY DIRECTOR FOR THE ASIA PACIFIC FOUNDATION: Well, Robyn, it is very chaotic. And the worry is that the

situation continues to pose a threat because as you said that the authorities have not ruled out that there may be more devices. In fact,

every day, there seems to be a discovery of a bomb that wasn't detonated or detonators that were found near the airport.

So there is this concern that this cell was very large. That it doesn't just end with the suicide bombers or the raid on the house in which the

police officers were killed. That it is a very large network and this National Thowheed Jamaat, that is being identified as having played a role,

they certainly played a role as couriers, as doing the reconnaissance in the systems on the ground for the attack, but there is a much larger

network involved, whether it is ISIS, or as the Sri Lankan authorities also investigating the connection to Pakistan, we'll have to see. But this is

much bigger than just some local group.

CURNOW: Yes, I mean, that's very clear. I mean, yesterday, we were reporting there were, I think, 87 detonators found by the bus station.

There was also the six foot pipe bomb. That's in addition to over 200 people who've been arrested and all these vehicles that are either been

detonated or looked for. So just from your point of view, in terms of one of the government ministers coming out saying, this looks like it was

retaliation for the Christchurch attacks. From your perspective, could that -- should that be taken seriously? Could something this huge, this

well-organized, this big, this coordinated be operationalized in a month after Christchurch, particularly because some warnings were given two weeks

ago?

GOHEL: It's an important question. This attack didn't happen overnight. It would have required a lot of planning and reconnaissance because the

attack was so well-coordinated and synchronized.

We do know that after the Christchurch attack, ISIS specifically called for attacks during the Easter holidays. Could this have been put together at

that time? Not necessarily. But perhaps the timing coincided then with a motivation to bring the plot potentially forward because we know that

terrorists around the world heed the call from groups like ISIS.

I think one of the big problems within Sri Lanka is that this intelligence warning about potential attacks on churches went to the National Security

Council of Sri Lanka, which is controlled by the President Sirisena.

The Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Wickremesinghe is not part of the National Security Council, and therefore the information was not relayed to him or

to the police. And that just illustrates a problem over communication. And that communication potentially has resulted in the deaths of over 310

people, one of the worst terrorist attacks since 9/11.

CURNOW: It certainly is in the context of that over 300 people. Just give us a sense of where this fits in because it certainly seems like a pattern

we've perhaps seen ISIS execute when it comes to the Philippines, parts of West Africa, perhaps even parts of Pakistan, the sort of sense of states

with small radicalized Muslim communities sort of taking kind of a sort of manipulating a dysfunctional security organization, is this something we

are going to see more of or was this just a highly opportunistic attack?

GOHEL: Robyn, I'm reminded of a conversation we had in a previous attack some years ago, and you asked me that is what ISIS are doing -- is it the

new normal? And I'm afraid every time we see an attack, there are perhaps elements we've witnessed before, but there's also a more disturbing dynamic

that is constantly being introduced.

[08:10:11] GOHEL: Almost desensitizing us to the violence, where you see people praying at a church on Easter Sunday, trying to remember the

resurrection of Christ and their lives are extinguished suddenly, in a flash with a suicide bombing.

There is a wider network, as we were talking about earlier, and I think the authorities need to now ascertain what is going on because in addition to

the Intelligence warning, there was also concern that there could have been a similar plot, targeting hotels in the Maldives by a similar group, linked

ideologically to National Thowheed Jamaat and the Pakistan angle is something that the Sri Lankan authorities are going to have to uncover

because a lot of the terrorist elements tend to grow from there, and then operate across South Asia as we've seen in India, and now Sri Lanka and

Bangladesh as well.

CURNOW: Yes, still so many leads, still so many unanswered questions. And yes, we keep on having these conversations, sadly. Sajjan Gohel, really

appreciate it. Thanks for bringing us your expertise this time, okay?

So we are learning more about the victims and let's talk about them because they are important and we need to honor them. Most of them were Sri

Lankans enjoying the holiday weekend. A number of people there were also foreign nationals. We also know about a retired British firefighter, Billy

Harrop, who died alongside his wife, Sally. He was a former Commander with the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue. The Manchester Evening News

reports he was celebrated for his heroism, responding to a bombing back in 1996.

Also from Britain, Anita Nicholson and her children Alex and Annabelle. They were killed in a hotel restaurant. Her husband, Ben survived.

And then an Australian woman and her 10-year-old daughter were killed at a Church service. Her husband is also devastated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUDESH KOLONNE, HUSBAND AND FATHER OF ATTACK VICTIM: I was also inside the church that time and at the end of the ceremony, and I just walked outside,

and in five minutes' time, there is a bomb blast. I heard about the huge noise and I jumped into the Church I saw that my daughter and wife is on

the floor. I don't know what to do. And I was -- I just saw my daughter the floor and I tried to lift them slowly, exactly the same. My wife is

dead. That's the end of the story of my daughter and wife.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Hard to listen to that, isn't it? We're also hearing from some of the survivors. One family overslept on Sunday morning, an act that may

have saved their lives. We spoke to this man who was vacationing in Colombo with his wife and infant daughter. They were actually staying at

the Shangri La Hotel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AKSHAT SARAF, WITNESS: At the time of the explosion, the three of us, we were in a room, which is in Shangri La on the 25th floor. We were just

getting ready to go downstairs for breakfast when I heard the first loud explosive noise. At that point, I wasn't sure what the nature of the sound

was, I personally thought it was a loud thunderstorm, probably the loudest thunderstorm I've ever heard of because the entire room started shaking.

A few seconds later was when we heard the second explosion and that's when I thought I should investigate as to where the sound is coming from. So I

looked outside my room and I was trying to see if there's any structural damage in the Shangri La building, but from the 25th floor, I cannot see

any smoke or debris falling from the building. So I was still confused at that point. This was probably just two or three seconds after the second

explosion.

But I did notice that they were a group of individuals who started gathering towards the roadside and looking towards the Shangri La building

and pointing at something. That's when I realized that probably the sound -- the explosive noise -- did come from our building and I asked my wife to

just pick up the passports and we immediately left the room.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Now, they got out of there. Lucky escape. Now, Saint Anthony's in Colombo was one of three Catholic Churches targeted in these attacks.

One of the priests spoke to CNN about what needs to happen right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FATHER JUDE FERNANDO, ADMINISTRATOR OF SAINT ANTHONY'S SHRINE: My humble request is, we will continue to pray because our God is not a God of

revenge. He is a God of love and mercy. He forgave all of us at the cross and we were celebrating the Easter -- that was the message and He is the

king of peace. And we love peace and we are a peaceful community. This Church is so sentimental to all the communities because everybody was in

this church -- Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists -- pleased everyone. And this Church is close to their heart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:35:07] CURNOW: Okay, so we will continue to monitor everything happening in Sri Lanka, but we're also watching this. A new court ruling

that impacts two Reuters journalist imprisoned in Myanmar. We look at what's next for them. Plus the leaders of North Korea and Russia are set

to hold a summit for the first time since 2011. We have a live report on that one when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: We're going taken out to Myanmar, the country's Supreme Court has rejected a final appeal by two Reuters journalists who recently, if you

remember won a Pulitzer Prize. They've been behind bars since December 2017 and their defense lawyer said the pair will not lodge any further

appeals. Well, here is Matt Rivers with their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A disappointing if unsurprising court ruling Tuesday for two Pulitzer Prize winning

journalists in Myanmar. The country's Supreme Court upheld the convictions of Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, all but assuring the pair

will serve the remainder of their seven-year prison sentences.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAN EI MON, WA LONE'S WIFE (Through a translator): Today, we came to the court with high hopes. We were optimistic about the verdict. We had

expected to see something better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS (voice over): They were arrested in December 2017 charged with possessing classified documents, but the pair said they were set up by

police and the international community largely viewed the trial as a political sham. Critics say the real motive for their arrest, an explosive

investigation into a massacre committed by Myanmar's military.

In late 2017, the military police and others were in the midst of carrying out what some UN investigators called a genocide against the Rohingya, a

Muslim minority in the country's west. More than 720,000 people fled their homes as up to 10,000 people were killed, a UN report estimated. Countless

others were tortured and raped.

The UN fact finding mission called for several top generals to face genocide charges. The army and government have repeatedly denied abuses.

Amidst the violence Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo compiled detailed evidence that 10 men and boys were beaten, stabbed, shot and ultimately killed by

military forces. Their reporting led to seven soldiers being arrested and they won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting.

Before their arrest, the pair says two police officers approach that and handed over documents. Shortly thereafter, they were arrested under the

Official Secrets Act -- a rarely cited law.

Lawyers for both reporters argued the pair was framed by authorities angry over their reporting and during their trial, whistleblower testimony from a

police captain confirmed the reporters' version of events saying the pair were deliberately entrapped by police. But they were convicted anyway and

each subsequent appeal has been denied.

[08:20:10] RIVERS: In a statement, Reuters Chief Counsel, Gail Gove said in part quote, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo did not commit any crime. They were

victims of a police set up to silence their truthful reporting."

Their only hope for freedom now, an unlikely pardon from Myanmar's de facto leader, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has not challenged

their convictions so far. Last year, CNN spoke to Wa Lone's wife Pan Ei Mon, the pair's first daughter, Angel was born while he was in prison.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MON (Through a translator): I want my daughter to know how her father loves her. I tell her that whether she understands or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS (voice over): By the time her father is released from prison, it's likely Baby Angel will be seven years old. Matt Rivers, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Well, thanks, Matt, for that story now. North Korean leader -- North Korea says its leader Kim Jong-un will travel to Russia for a Summit

with President Vladimir Putin. Take a listen.

State television did not say when or where the visit will happen, but a Russian news report says the meeting will take place in the port city of

Vladivostok as early as this Thursday. And they say, it's part of Kim's effort to shore up foreign support after talks stalled with the U.S. So

Matthew Chance has more details on all of this.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was as if details about this Summit weren't sketchy enough, you can see a dense fog

has now descended over Vladivostok in eastern Russia, the city where this Summit is expected to be held between President Putin of Russia and Kim

Jong-un of North Korea -- for the first time that two fingers have met.

Now, what's on the agenda is unclear. But the Kremlin says that the issue of denuclearization on the Korean peninsula is the issue that they're going

to be talking about more than anything else. But you get the sense, the real issue for the Kremlin is that they've watched President Trump of the

United States sideline up to Kim Jong-un over multiple meetings. The last of their Summit, of course, ended in failure to produce any agreements in

Vietnam back in February.

Vladimir Putin taking the opportunity to sort of build a personal bond of his own with Kim Jong-un and that's because Russia and Vladimir Putin very

much want to be seen as major players in global diplomacy. We've seen that in their intervention in the Middle East, in Ukraine, in Venezuela as well

and we're seeing it now with their attempts to make sure their voice is heard, the Russian voice is heard in the issue of denuclearization on the

Korean peninsula.

Now, in terms of when the Summit is going to take place, that's unclear. We're expecting possibly Wednesday, local time; possibly Thursday, local

time here in Vladivostok. All both sides will say -- the Kremlin and the North Koreans -- is that it will happen soon. Matthew Chance, CNN, in

Vladivostok.

CURNOW: And U.S. President Donald Trump will make his first official state visit to the U.K. in early June. Buckingham Palace announced the visit

just a short time ago. You may recall that Mr. Trump traveled to the U.K. last summer, a visit that saw he meet the queen and Prime Minister Theresa

May, but that was not an official state visit because it did not come at the request of the Queen.

And now to Washington, Democrats want to talk to the man who used to be the White House counsel. The House Judiciary Committee has issued a subpoena

for Don McGahn. Democrats want him to testify about the President's efforts to undermine the Mueller investigation. Some Democrats say Donald

Trump should be impeached for obstruction of justice. But Party leaders are urging a more cautious approach.

So let's get more from the White House, Abby Phillip is standing by. Let's talk through this push to get Mr. McGahn to talk, is he likely to do it?

What would he say?

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's not clear exactly how the White House is going to respond to the subpoena. But there have been

some indications in recent days, there has been another subpoena from a different committee, the House Oversight Committee to a former White House

official who is in charge of some of the security clearance processes.

And just yesterday, the White House ordered that official not to comply with the House Oversight Committee subpoena setting up a potential fight

with that committee and setting up a potential for that person to be held in contempt of Congress. And we could see basically the same thing play

out with Don McGahn.

The White House has been pushing back on this all along, saying the Democrats really just want to re-litigate the Mueller report, but Democrats

are saying that they want McGahn to testify under oath about some of the things that were raised in the Mueller report that we're basically left

open to interpretation.

Remember, Robert Mueller did not make a determination about whether the President obstructed justice and one of the efforts that the House is going

to try to get into is to figure out whether or not that that warrant of bringing impeachment charges against the President on that issue.

[08:25:11] PHILLIP: Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker has been trying to get Democrats on the same page about this, trying to get them to start

here, start with the oversight process before moving on to impeachment.

And I think this is just the first volley in that, in what will be I think a pretty lengthy battle over this issue of whether current and former

officials can be called back to testify under oath.

CURNOW: Yes, quite a political push and pull. Abby Phillip there at the White House, beautiful spring day by the looks of things. Thanks so much,

Abby.

So just ahead here on NEWS STREAM. More of our in depth coverage on Sri Lanka as ISIS claims responsibility for these series of coordinated terror

attacks. And the Northern Ireland, police arrest a woman in connection with this journalist's murder after she was killed in clashes in

Londonderry last week. We'll have that as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: You're watching NEWS STREAM. This is CNN. I'm Robyn Curnow. Thanks for joining us. And here's some of the headlines. The Philippines

has been hit by a second earthquake in two days. This time it hit the central part of the country with a magnitude of 6.3.

On Monday, several people were killed following a 6.1 magnitude earthquake on the island of Luzon. It's not clear whether Tuesday's earthquake was an

aftershock or completely separate, but no tsunami warnings have been flagged and there are no immediate reports of damage.

And protests leaders in Sudan have called for large demonstrations this week demanding the handover of power to civilians. It comes after the

breakdown of talks with the Military Council that took power following the coup earlier this month. The Army is ordering protesters to take down

barricades on roads leading to the Defense Ministry. The demonstrators warned force will be met with force.

And Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cast his vote in the country's Super Tuesday election. The election is seen as a referendum on his five

years in office. The opposition is hammering him on employment, economy and the debt crisis among farmers. Voting takes place over six weeks.

And returning to our top story this hour. ISIS is claiming responsibility for a series of attacks on hotels and churches in Sri Lanka on Easter

Sunday. It has provided no direct evidence so far to back up that claim. Meanwhile, CNN has obtained this exclusive video showing the aftermath of

the bombing at Saint Sebastian. It's a church about an hour north of the Sri Lankan capital. It's located in a tight knit Catholic community, a

hundred people died there where officials say a suicide bomber detonated his backpack.

[08:30:13] CURNOW: And assistant priest told CNN, at the end of mass, all of a sudden there was broken glass and dust covering the building. People

were shouting and weeping, he said. They didn't know what was happening. When the dust cleared, the church look like this -- a disaster area.

Well, Ivan Watson joins us now from that church. Ivan, you are there. You can see that it is still very much a crime scene, but at the same time we

hearing all of these new lines of information about motive. What are people saying?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, I spoke with one Catholic priest here and he said that his responsibility

right now and basically, the directives they've gotten from their Archbishop is to appeal for calm within their communities which are hurting

so badly and grieving and in some cases, angry in the wake of these just horrific terror attacks that took place on Easter Sunday.

And this now coming as ISIS claims responsibility without substantiating providing any evidence to back it up and as the Sri Lankan government now

accuses a little known local Islamist extremist group of carrying out the attacks and it's starting to rain pretty hard here.

The startling assertion that the State Defense Minister said that the attacks were carried out as retribution for the Christchurch mass shootings

in mosques there in New Zealand last month, well, that's unsettling to say the least. I covered those attacks, Robyn, and the inside of the mosques

looks similar to the inside of Saint Sebastian Church here. It's a charnel house, blood spattered walls. They may have been different weapons, but

these were attacks fueled by the same kind of raw hatred, and the end result of this twisted logic of mass murder is dozens and dozens of

innocent civilians murdered while they were in prayer -- Robyn.

CURNOW: Yes, you certainly make an excellent point that just based on hatred, so yes, the rain is coming down. People are behind you. What are

they doing in that church right now? And also talk us through some of this video that we've seen that might give us some understanding of what took

place just before this bombing at that location.

WATSON: My colleague, Sam Kylie worked with the priests here. They have security cameras all around this church and documented the approach of a

man carrying a huge backpack, who chillingly patted the head of a little girl in the courtyard where I'm standing and then walked into the packed

church as the Easter Sunday prayer services were underway and that is where he detonated and killed more than 100 people in that church on the holiest

day of the Christian calendar, just a horrific attack and one that was timed with attacks on two other churches in Sri Lanka, and three other

luxury hotels. The death toll is staggering.

And the security forces here still very much concerned that there could be additional attacks. They've been on high alert in Colombo on the lookout

for vehicles suspected of carrying explosives. We saw one of these vehicles destroyed in a controlled detonation by a bomb squad on Monday in

Colombo, and it turned out to be filled with explosives and the blast was massive Robyn.

As for this church, the inside -- it's a forensics investigation right now and also they're cleaning it up from the awful, awful aftermath of that

attack. It smells like a charnel house -- Robyn.

CURNOW: Ivan Watson, thanks so much, bringing us what is happening there on the ground. Appreciate it. Great reporting. Thanks, Ivan.

So want to take you now to Northern Ireland where police there have made an arrest in connection with the murder of journalist, Lyra McKee. In a

tweet, police say they detained a 57-year-old woman and the Terrorism Act. This follows the publication in the Irish news of a purported statement

from the new IRA admitting responsibility for her death.

She was killed in clashes between crowds and police in Londonderry also known as Derry last Thursday. The new IRA message also offers full and

sincere apologies from McKee's death. CNN has not independently verified the authenticity of the statements and has reached out to Northern Irish

police for reaction.

Well, Nic Robertson is standing by with more on all of this from London. What do you make of this latest arrest? Hi, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, it's kind of difficult to say how this 57-year-old woman might be connected. I mean, I

think if we look back to the arrest the police made over the weekend and I attended a press conference there where the police said that they were

convinced that the two men that they had arrested -- teenagers, 18 and 19 years old -- were the gunmen that they were a new breed of terrorists and

these were members of the new IRA.

[08:35:11] ROBERTSON: This is very strong language and relative terms from the police in Northern Ireland, yet, a few days later they were forced to

let those two walk free. So now they've arrested a 57-year-old woman, it would be conjecture, to wonder how they got that information that led to

her arrest. But the police have been appealing very, very heavily in the community where the killing took place for people to come forward with

information with mobile phone video footage of the events that night if they've got it.

So there's been a strong push by the police and there's also been a strong push back in the community against the new IRA. And I think that's perhaps

why you see this statement from the new IRA using traditional means that the old IRA used to use. They're using a coded message to a news

organization to authenticate what they are saying. And when they say well, we'll tell our volunteers to be more careful next time, I think at the

moment in the city of Derry, that is not going to go down very well.

CURNOW: No, and give us more information on this new IRA.

ROBERTSON: This is an organization which really sort of came into existence in 2016. Since the Good Friday Agreement 21 years ago, there

have been various different dissident republican elements. These are the groups that thought that Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA and the

IRA did the wrong thing by signing up to a peace agreement and choosing a political path to find a United Ireland, to fight for a United Ireland.

These are groups that are dedicated to the sort of old republican tradition of violence, to use violence to try to bring about a United Ireland and

they're exploiting in these communities, high unemployment, disillusionment with an impoverished way of life.

But the stark reality here is and I go back to that number 21, 21 years ago, the Good Friday Peace Agreement -- that the victim here was from a

generation that grew up after the peace agreement. And it seems also that the perpetrators, the two young men and the young men in the video who are

firing the gun at Lyra McKee are also from the post peace agreement generation, and that's a stark thing for Northern Ireland to get accustomed

to right now, that a whole new generation is becoming the killers and victims.

CURNOW: Yes, particularly in places like Derry as well. Nic Robertson, thanks so much for your expertise. Thanks for joining us there in London,

Nic.

So you're watching NEWS STREAM. Much more news after a quick break. Stick with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: We'll take you straight to Sri Lanka, the Prime Minister is speaking. Let's listen in.

RANIL WICKREMESINGHE, PRIME MINISTER OF SRI LANKA: ... you know you can meet people in the park, you can meet them (INAUDIBLE). You need not go

to the --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there a link to the (INAUDIBLE) group, Thowheed Jamaat?

WICKREMESINGHE: This is a small breakaway group and the links are being that all the issues that are being raised, but we can't tell immediately

definitely to whom they have links.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But you know for certain that they did go overseas, and if so, which countries did they go?

WICKREMESINGHE: Again?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know for certain that the suspects did go overseas?

WICKREMESINGHE: We have known all of these. We have the details, so we are taking that up with the foreign help that we are having.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The alleged leader of this group that the government has said is responsible for these attacks made a series of videos over the

years and Muslim Council said they approached the government, warning the government of the risks that this group and this individual posed, why was

nothing done or what was done?

[08:40:07] WICKREMESINGHE: Very fine. One of the issues that are being inquired (INAUDIBLE) to the police, they weren't authorities.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know if that man (INAUDIBLE) suicide bombers or he is still on the run?

WICKREMESINGHE: He is suspected to be one of the suicide bombers. They have to confirm.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you identified all of the suicide bombers and how many of them were there?

WICKREMESINGHE: Well, many of them somehow have to be identified.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sorry?

WICKREMESINGHE: Many of them have been identified, but not all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many? The six or seven suicide bombers?

WICKREMESINGHE: Let's have a question mark with that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And do you believe that other suspects are still on the run? Or do you think you've caught everybody?

WICKREMESINGHE: Well, they are still looking out at who else is involved because inquiries lead to other names.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Prime Minister, give us a sense of the timing of these attacks and also what exactly could you (INAUDIBLE).

WICKREMESINGHE: Well, that is one issue that is over and now we've got another issue here. It's like Northern Ireland is over U.K., but you've

got other terrorism going north. Now if you're waiting for opportunities, these are the best times from their point of view when the Churches are

crowded on Easter services in the morning, there are no night services on Easter. This day is basically a morning that everyone attends and then

they must have time between the brunches, which was also taking place. I don't know the whole idea. It is a tradition that people have, but it

seemed to have been a timing to look at the maximum participation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE), Prime Minister, you came with (INAUDIBLE) and that was for people who voted for change, and I'd like to

ask why after 10 years of the end of Civil War, minorities of this country still (INAUDIBLE) and what has this government has done ...

WICKREMESINGHE: I think the many other issues about the minorities have been resolved. All reports have been put to the issue. I don't think

otherwise. If you look at the Human Rights Commission reports and others, and also the people are working together with each other.

Now, if you look at -- when this explosion took place, our religious leaders came out and said, Look, they have become -- you found the

venerable (INAUDIBLE) issuing the statements, then certainly the Muslims, the senior Muslim (INAUDIBLE) and the Ministers with the Cardinal.

Cardinal (INAUDIBLE) and I must say, yesterday night and on Saturday night -- Sunday night, and Monday night and today at the funerals, comments were

(INAUDIBLE). I think that that shows the type of responsibility that government will continue it. It's a policy of having unity in the country

and of having religious groups living together while cracking down on the global terrorism.

I must tell you that real that we will crack down with global terrorists. Do not (INAUDIBLE) and they have their own interpretation of what their

faith is and we can't (INAUDIBLE) that. But there certainly has been a big improvement in the country's relations between the different communities

and different regions. We just want to maintain that (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What repercussions will there be for the people that were able to pass along this intelligence?

WICKREMESINGHE: Once it comes down, we will then decide what we could do about it whether it be administrative and all about what they have done,

what we have -- some will have to be removed from their posts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And there are concerns that these emergency measures will be used to intimidate other class minorities.

WICKREMESINGHE: It's not only on terrorism and so far we have met with the -- I met with all the party leads -- the main party leader in Parliament,

including (INAUDIBLE). Those are (INAUDIBLE) and if that is an issue, members of the Cabinet, they are Muslims.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

WICKREMESINGHE: Why is it that a country that is faced with terrorism is now accused of persecuting its minorities when we have exact very good

relationship and the relationship are shown in the last few days? It is unfair bias.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

WICKREMESINGHE: We are trying to prevent any (INAUDIBLE). It may have been that they have planned a series of attacks and the police is working

around the clock and the Armed Forces (INAUDIBLE).

[08:45:05] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How much of the tension between yourself and the President we are seeing come to play in the (INAUDIBLE) information

issues and they are not coming to everybody that needs to know.

WICKREMESINGHE: Well, I am only not telling you certain things which they don't want me to disclose.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One of the --

WICKREMESINGHE: I am with the President, I cooperate with the President the day it took place and we agreed and recommended with the police curfew

and armed forces have come out and we discussed this on Monday and can decided to bring the emergency for certain purposes for immediate purposes.

We had a meeting, I mean, we have difference of opinion, but will (INAUDIBLE) out and somehow, look, we have to get the country over this

problem. Don't think we can start putting personal issues in front.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But your statement right after it happened, said that as Prime Minister you or your anyone in your Cabinet had been --

WICKREMESINGHE: Because this issue was raised, anyway, by some of the Christians and others like the Minister of (INAUDIBLE) informed, so I just

-- I said we have to look at the breakdown of security and so the President pointed out a committee. Then we also said that includes the minister and

including me not being informed. But I said, our priority is (INAUDIBLE). The priority is apprehend the offender and ensure that this group is caught

and it doesn't spread.

So priority is still in apprehend the offender. Actually, we have learned (INAUDIBLE). That's all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) Sri Lankan (INAUDIBLE) have joined Islamic State in Syria back in 2016, do you know if they have come back?

Did they --

WICKREMESINGHE: Yes, some of them have returned and some were killed there. Some have returned and the intelligence have been following it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But they (INAUDIBLE) in this attack. Is it --

WICKREMESINGHE: The (INAUDIBLE) some of them have been out there, not all. Those are entered in that list here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you explain why the government blocked (INAUDIBLE) Facebook and how long will that --

WICKREMESINGHE: We will consider that tomorrow and --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

WICKREMESINGHE: (INAUDIBLE). Went through this exercise earlier. We didn't want to take another chance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Prime minister, (INAUDIBLE) from India, I saw discussions have been repeated by you (INAUDIBLE) claims that have been

made by the Islamic State that they are behind these attacks. Do you see the (INAUDIBLE) between the (INAUDIBLE) organization that we are talking

about and the ISIS?

WICKREMESINGHE: Really, certainly that security operators have the view that there are foreign links and some of the evidence points to that. So

if they are with the ISIS claim, we will be following up on this claim. There was suspicion that they have links with ISIS.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Prime Minister, (INAUDIBLE). I just wanted to know better if t those crimes that has been (INAUDIBLE) with the Sri Lankan

(INAUDIBLE) from Indian authorities with regards to Jihadi terrorists.

WICKREMESINGHE: We had always been sharing our intelligence between our two countries in regards to terrorism.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was there specific intelligence on this?

WICKREMESINGHE: There is specific intelligence on this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) but the statements that the Defense Minister mentioned that another group may have been involved.

WICKREMESINGHE: That is also being investigated. (INAUDIBLE). Some investigations are under way on this other group.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what group is it?

WICKREMESINGHE: Let us get that question stand as it is now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) how big is this? How long have you known them?

WICKREMESINGHE: I have lost my voice. Maybe afterwards.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many members are there in --

WICKREMESINGHE: That is being looked into. It's not a large group. It's not a large group, I said.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But the U.K. government --

WICKREMESINGHE: And there are different members and they are the one who are the actual -- the hardcore suicide bombers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The U.K. government has offered assistance to Sri Lanka. Have you accepted that? Have you requested assistance from

Britain?

WICKREMESINGHE: The Britons are giving assistance. There were British citizens who were killed. So their team has come down here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there international assistance that we're looking at even those from Indian cooperation (INAUDIBLE).

WICKREMESINGHE: We've been cooperating that they give us very specific Intelligence. The U.S. - President Trump has also offered help down here,

so there are some of the deals that are coming in here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why was more security not offered to churches ahead of these attacks?

WICKREMESINGHE: Pardon?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why was there not more security at churches ahead of this attack?

WICKREMESINGHE: This is what we are inquiring into. Some areas, there were. Some areas, the police were active and the security was there.

[08:50:10] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did the president give you a reason for why he excluded you from national security meetings?

WICKREMESINGHE: Pardon?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did the President give a reason for why he excluded you from national security meetings?

WICKREMESINGHE: We already have discussed that and let the (INAUDIBLE) and let's now work together.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But you have said your responsibility and this attack has happened on your watch, the Intelligence was there and it doesn't seem

to have been acted on.

WICKREMESINGHE: That's why we have committed to looking in Parliament and debating tomorrow who was responsible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Prime Minister, (INAUDIBLE) ABP News of India, we are still getting reports of (INAUDIBLE) live situations outside in Colombo and

(INAUDIBLE) how serious is the threat as well as the present situation is concerned?

WICKREMESINGHE: There are still people on the run, somehow on the run, so we've got to apprehend them with the explosives.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many people are on the run, sir? Do happen to have an estimate?

WICKREMESINGHE: No, I don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) divisions also, there are incidents of violence between the Buddhists and the Muslims in this country. Both this

scenario, have you looked at these differences and divisions (INAUDIBLE)?

WICKREMESINGHE: There has been tension but there has not been any violence. We've got to now ensure that situation calms down. And if I am

made to call to action, I think that that should be (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How long do you expect the (INAUDIBLE)?

WICKREMESINGHE: Huh?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How long do you expect --

WICKREMESINGHE: I wish we could be normal really fast, but it will take a bit of time. We are making progress, that's all I could tell you. And

also in the group, I must say that first, we (INAUDIBLE) are investigating the whole issue of the (INAUDIBLE) broken and then that has been

(INAUDIBLE) that can decide. I must say the vast majority of Muslims condemn this and they are as angry as the (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Prime Minister, during the Indian High Commission, some of the Indian families were also on target. Could you confirm this

report?

WICKREMESINGHE: That is all the information we had.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) intelligence that was provided?

WICKREMESINGHE: That is what we are going to look into.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were also reports that four hotels were the target (INAUDIBLE) in the fatal attack.

WICKREMESINGHE: Yes, that's the information. The fourth one failed (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which hotel was that fourth one, sir? Which hotel was that?

WICKREMESINGHE: (INAUDIBLE) prospects of people coming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

WICKREMESINGHE: At this level, (INAUDIBLE), so let it be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The public have a right to know, sir? Shouldn't people know? Shouldn't --

WICKREMESINGHE: No, I am taking the precaution, but that's in the investigation and that's a personal view.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

WICKREMESINGHE: (INAUDIBLE). There will have (INAUDIBLE) and we are looking at them with some outflows.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) discovered that most of those intentions that you have seen, do you feel angry? Do you feel shocked?

WICKREMESINGHE: I feel shocked when I heard about it first.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE). What do you see on the ground?

WICKREMESINGHE: Well, we are verifying that everybody -- (INAUDIBLE) supposed to have the name of the group that were in one of the hotels. I

think the police is working on that and we hope that we will have something.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Prime Minister, how are things being done differently from the time that they had intelligence and (INAUDIBLE) ...

WICKREMESINGHE: I think that now we are already knowing and we are (INAUDIBLE), but there have to be certain restructurings done.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When we will see them?

WICKREMESINGHE: First is, we have to get them all moving with the things without disrupting much of the things we've got.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Prime Minister, (INAUDIBLE) intelligence was able to be delivered some time ago, (INAUDIBLE) Muslim Community.

WICKREMESINGHE: This information on the (INAUDIBLE) was conveyed and they didn't process that. one time they were -- they had no question on

(INAUDIBLE) simply of being a breakaway group and then it expanded.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have confidence in your police and security teams given what's happened? Do you have confidence in them to be able to

prevent further attacks?

WICKREMESINGHE: What has happened is a breakdown of communication. If it was available, these groups were in charge of (INAUDIBLE) would have went

faster.

[08:55:10] WICKREMESINGHE: We would have acted. There was a breakdown of communication.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you like the expectations --

CURNOW: Breakdown of communication. That is the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka facing some tough questions there from journalists saying that

Parliament will debate their breakdown in communication tomorrow as to why Intelligence on these attacks that took place on Easter Sunday were not

acted upon.

He also said that not all the bombers, not all the suicide bombers have been identified, some had. And he said also it is possible that these

bombings were because of the Christchurch mosque attack. That is one line of suggestion that has come out in the past few hours.

He said differences between him and the President have been thrashed out and so far only Sri Lankans have been so far arrested for these attacks.

This is ongoing. We will continue to monitor this press conference. Let you know if there are any new details coming out of it. We have a number

of reporters on the ground in Sri Lanka and my colleague, Julia Chatterley will continue to monitor this story and the massive death toll, over 300

people have been killed in those bombings.

You're watching CNN.

[09:00:00]

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