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Deadly Shooting On The Champs-Elysees; U.S. Preparing Charges Against Assange; New Clashes In Venezuela; ISIS Claims "Fighter" Responsible for Paris Attack; GM Stops Operations after Venezuela Seizes Plant; New Book Details Chaos in Clinton Campaign; More Problems for Uber. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired April 21, 2017 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:08] JOHN VAUSE, CNN NEWSROOM ANCHOR: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.
ISHA SESAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Ahead this hour, gunman opens fire along the iconic Champs-Elysees just days before France's Presidential election kicks off.
VAUSE: Plus the United States is ready to prosecute Julian Assange. They just have to work out how to arrest him first.
SESAY: And later new clashes on the streets of Venezuela in a protest that's even forced one of the world's largest automakers to halt production in the country.
VAUSE: All right everybody, thanks for being with us. I'm John Vause.
SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay. This is NEWSROOM L.A.
SESAY: Well, (INAUDIBLE) French investigators say the man who fatally shot a policeman along the Champs-Elysees in Paris was known to authorities for radical Islamist activities rather.
VAUSE: Police shot and killed the gunman but not before he wounded two other officers, as well as a tourist. ISIS says the attacker was one of its fighters.
SESAY: Well the shooting happened in the busy tourist are in Paris on a stretch of the boulevard between the Arc de Triomphe and Place De la Concorde. Witnesses say the man drove up alongside a police van and opened fire with an automatic weapon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): We are at the highest possible state of trance, particularly during this electoral campaign. I think everybody will understand at this moment that my thoughts go to the families of the policeman who were killed, the nearest and dearest also of those who were wounded, national tribute will be paid to these police officers who have been so cowardly massacred.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Joining us now from Paris, CNN's Melissa Bell at the CNN center in Atlanta Cyril Vanier and here in Los Angeles CNN Law Enforcement Contributor Steve Moore, thank you all for being with us. So Melissa again we'll kick off with you, the very latest we know on the investigation and I guess in particular if the gunman was working alone.
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: Whether he was working alone, why? We're hearing from French sources that he was a French national, but in that ISIS claim of responsibility he was referred to, there were references to the fact that he was a Belgian. What was the connection with Belgium? These are just some of the questions that we are hoping to get answers from over the course of the day especially as we expect to hear from the Paris prosecutor Francois Molins who will be bringing us later to the investigation.
This morning and it is very early here in Paris sharp to 7 a.m. the Champs-Elysees is now open but that part of it where that attack took place at 9:00 p.m. local time last night, so just under 12 hours ago, you can perhaps see just behind me, there is still quarter of that area that investigation continues there's are still emergency vehicles up there keeping anyone away from that stretch of pavement close to where that driver pulled up alongside that police van and began shooting at 9:00 p.m. last night leading of course to the death of that policeman. That investigation, of course, we will be getting the latest details on today on this the last day of campaigning for the candidates ahead of Sunday's crucial first round of voting in France's Presidential race.
SESAY: Melissa, appreciate it standby first. Steve Moore, to you next. As you look at how this attack played out, are you convinced this was the act of a lone wolf, an individual acting alone?
STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: No I'm not. I think the fact that he had collation caught when there so controlled in France, I think the infrastructure that he used, I think what we're talking about is at least cellular activity, somebody had to have provided that to him, and I think we're -- we're probably talking about somebody who was in contact, if not directed at least in contact with ISIL on the caliphate.
VAUSE: Exactly. See clearly the gunman he wanted to send a message, not just with the target, the police, but also the location?
MOORE: Yes, I mean, you can -- you can almost figure that he was out there like this trying to figure out what the news camera footage would have been before he did the attack. He lived 26 kilometers east of town. He could have gone just about anywhere to attack policemen, but he went to the Champs-Elysees you did just days before the election this was a targeted specifically media driven attack I believe.
SESAY: Cyril to you, as you heard Steve make the point, this happened just days before the election, just hours really. What impact will this have? Will it be playing high on the minds of voters as they cast their ballots in this first round?
CYRIL VANIER CNN ANCHOR: Yes, you absolutely cannot rule that out. It's very possible that it makes terrorism and security in general jump higher on the list of priorities for voters and bear in mind there' are still a lot of votes up for grabs. I believe it's up to a quarter of French voters right now have not made up their minds. That's not considerably more a higher proportion than is usually the case at this very late stage in the campaign cycle. So a lot of votes up for grabs. This happens but there's a counter argument. The counter argument is this has been going on for years so does it necessarily change the way -- you know, what people want from their leadership in France? I'm not so sure. They've had two and a half years to process this.
[01:05:39] VAUSE: So with politics in mind, let's listen to the reaction from the leader of the far-right party Marine Le Pen and what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARINE LE PEN, NATIONAL FRONT LEADER (through translator): I feel incredible sorrow for the police who have once again paid a heavy price. Not everything has been done to protect our citizens. What we need is the resources to make sure we can combat the Islamist terrorism. I don't want our youth to get used to living with this danger naivety is over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So Steve let's bring you in this, obviously keeping in mind there are politics at play here, but to Le Pen's point, France is already under a State of Emergency. This is a tourist area already with heavy security and security already ramped up because the election was being held over the weekend. What else could the French authorities be doing?
MOORE: Well, I think the problem here is -- first of all, we all know that you can't protect every place all the time. Protecting the infrastructure, protecting the location is an unrealistic game. It's not going to work. So what you have to do is find the people who are going to do this. And somehow there was -- there was a mistake. I mean, maybe well-meaning mistake. Maybe they followed this guy for the last four weeks and said nothing is going on. We've got to put our resources to something that -- where there is a danger and then this guy attacks. I mean, I've been in that position where you're just -- you -- it's like reading a crystal ball. But this guy had already shot policemen, there's really no reason not to be on him all the time.
SESAY: Melissa Bell to you. We just heard from Marine Le Pen there. What's been the reaction from the other Presidential candidates?
BELL: Well, of course, they were very quick to react when this happened at 9:00 p.m. last night. They were all gathered on stage where one final, not quite debate since they weren't debating amongst each other, but each of them were interrogated intern for their last major appearance all together at least for the 11 candidates ahead of Sunday's vote. So, of course, the reactions were fairly quick to come through. On camera, but also by tweet. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANCOIS FILLON, FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Combating is the totalitarianism and those who are the origin of this growth of (INAUDIBLE) of this fundamentalist combating then must really be the top priority for the next President of the Republic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BELL: Now, we also heard from -- through Twitter from other candidates Emmanuel Macron. Now he is just to remind you the independent Centrist who's already been the surprise of this race. So far up the polls has he risen rather unexpectedly he is now Marine Le Pen the far right leader that we heard earlier main arrival hoping to get to his second round runoff. He tweeted, "Tonight I want to show my solidarity with our law enforcement". Then you see - the first mission of the President is to protect. We also hear through Twitter from the far left independent Jean-Luc Melenchon who's also been rising on the polls, one of the top four now vying for those two places going through to the runoff. He tweeted, "My thoughts are with the policemen dead and injured and their families. Terrorist acts will never remain unpunished, accomplices not forgotten". Now, of course, all of the -- all of the candidates reacted. Also, some of them announced that they were canceling today's events.
This is the last day of campaigning at midnight tonight in Paris it ends. And the campaign goes quiet until voting begins on Sunday morning. Now Emmanuel Macron that you just heard from by Twitter moments ago Francois Fillon the Republican candidate as well but also the far right Marine Le Pen have all canceled their meetings today. Their events that were due to try and convince those undecided voters as Cyril was mentioning a moment ago. What emotional impact will the images from last night have on those undecided voters? That will be one of the big questions and we won't really get an answer to that until about 8:00 p.m. local time on Sunday night when the first estimations of how this crucial election have gone -- has gone come out.
SESAY: Melissa, thank you. Cyril to bring you back in here, Melissa was just talking about the emotional impact of this attack. The fact that ISIS has come out so quickly and claimed responsibility, claimed that this guy was one of their fighters, will this put this attack in a different place for French public?
VANIER: My gut tells me no for several reasons. Previous attacks have been claimed by ISIS or other groups, for instance, Al-Qaeda, so this is not new. Secondly, you know, in a country that has seen attacked that have killed up within 100 people on some occasion, for instance, the Bataclan attack late 2015 or dozens of people in case of the Neth attack. It actually means that for French people, this registers as a fairly minor attack. Sure, symbolically and because of the timing and because of the place where it was carried out its major, but in terms of fatalities it's minor and that might sound flippant for me to say that, but French people who've been living under this Terrorism threat for the last two and a half years intuitively they factor that in. So I think, you know there's this sort of maturity over this that means my -- my instinct and I could be wrong, my instinct tells me there might not be an overreaction to this even though we're only two days ahead of the vote.
[01:10:53] VAUSE: Steve Moore, to you because we were talking during the break this how quickly ISIS claimed responsibility for this which implies that there was some kind of coordination that they knew about this ahead of time. I think there is some reports about when they put that kind of responsibility it was in multiple languages. What does all that say to you?
MOORE: What that tells me is ISIS usually takes a while to try and figure out, was this one of our guys or not? The fact that they immediately knew about him, knew some details about him. Discussed nationality, things like this leads me to believe that they were in contact with him. That doesn't mean that they were giving him instructions, that they may have given him suggestions they may have said you might want to talk to this guy about a weapon, but they knew him, and I think the crucial thing now is going to be dissecting all of his electronic footprints, all the bread crumbs that his communications left because I bet it leads right back to Northern Syria.
SESAY: Melissa last word to you. With that vote just hours away, really, we are -- it is really the eve of the vote there in France. What extra security measures are going to be put in place? What are we hearing?
BELL: Well, authorities had made clear because of course just a few days ago there was this arrest in Marseille two man who had been authorities tells us on the verge of carrying out an imminent attack had their plot ready they were arrested. We'd heard at the time from authorities who responded very quickly saying look, we've got 50,000 policemen and soldiers on the streets of France protecting specifically this election campaign and ensuring that the two rounds of voting goes smoothly. No doubt after what's happened here last night on the Champs-Elysees and that will be reinforced further and that high in sense of security as we were just hearing from Cyril. How will that play into the broader future? Of course, we are just a couple of days from this election, Marine Le Pen the far right candidate has made not just law and order, but that question of how the government, how France treats those who are -- those were under active surveillance as apparently, this individual was. She's been harder and harder in her language over the past few days saying, "Look, if I'm elected President, the day after I'm elected these people will be thrown out of the country." This really plays into her narrative and I wonder whether that emotional response, the strength of her language don't create a sort of combination of factors that are likely to make this really play into that campaign perhaps much more than it would have if it would have happened just a few days before.
SESAY: All right, Melissa Bell joining us there from Paris. We appreciate it, Cyril Vanier there in Atlanta. Steve Moore joining us here from Los Angeles, my thanks to you. VAUSE: Thank you, guys. We appreciate it.
SESAY: Thank you. All right, quick break now. Still ahead, new trouble for Julian Assange, what the U.S. government has in store for the exiled WikiLeaks founder.
VAUSE: Also ahead China may be changing its views on North Korea for the show of military force. We'll explain next on NEWSROOM L.A.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:16:03] KATE RILEY, CNN WORLD SPORTS ANCHOR: I'm Kate Riley with your CNN WORLD SPORTS Headlines, Manchester United hopes of winning their first ever Europa League title are still alive. And well thanks to the heroic of the youngster Marcus Rashford, Jose Mourinho clan found themselves ahead earlier on the match. The under leg would respond to level it before half-time. Chances were aplenty, but the breakthrough wouldn't happen until some individual brilliance from Rashford allowed the Red Devils to take the lead in the 107th minute. They go on to win 2-1.
Tiger Woods has announced on his website that he has successfully undergone back surgery to rid him of the pain in his back and leg. The former world number one recently skipped the Masters due to his back problems and hasn't played a competitive round since early February. However, what Tiger says he's most looking forward to is getting back to a normal life, playing with his kids and playing some competitive golf.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said he has full faith in his two current keepers and has no plans to make a move for ex-Man City keeper Joe Hart in the upcoming summer transfer window. Being the number one is currently on loan with serious outside three-nil after being deemed several requirements by City boss, Pep Guardiola. Hart could return to English Premier League next season but it's unlikely he will play for City again. That's a look at your Sports Headlines. I'm Kate Riley.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: We have more now on our main story. Paris prosecutors say they have identified the man who shot and killed a police officer in Champs-Elysees. Officials say he opened fire with an automatic weapon on a parked police van. Two other officers were wounded, as well as a passerby.
SESAY: Sources say the suspect was a known risk for radicalization and that he'd been involved in a police shooting once before. ISIS called the man one of its soldiers but we won't know his name until sometime Friday.
VAUSE: The Donald administration is preparing to prosecute WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange for publishing classified U.S. materials that is if U.S. can get him. Assange has spent years inside the relative safety of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and he's not likely to leave anytime soon. SESAY: Well still the U.S. says arresting Assange has become a
priority if and when that day arrives U.S. officials tell CNN they have the criminal charges ready to go.
VAUSE: OK. For more on this Democratic Strategist Dave Jacobson and Republican Consultant John Thomas. Joining us here in Los Angeles. Good to see you both again.
SESAY: Hello guys.
VAUSE: OK. We know very much Donald Trump loved him some WikiLeaks during the campaign but now I guess not so much. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER KING, UNITED STATES HOUSE REPUBLICAN: I think the President is seeing this now from a different perspective and realizing that, you know while maybe one day Assange can help you overall this is damaging to the national interest to the United States and again he's put American lives at risk over the years and it's -- I think it's important to stop him now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So John, does Donald Trump owe Hillary Clinton an apology?
JOHN THOMAS, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: You never going to hear him apologize.
VAUSE: Like that yellow one.
THOMAS: He should saying look, I thought WikiLeaks was just hacking your poorly security e-mails but little did I know they're an arm of Russian intelligence and they're hacking the Federal government it's a larger problem we've got to stop. That's what he needs to say. It will never happen.
SESAY: He'll never say. But Dave he loved them one day and not so much today. You can add it to the list of reversal on the part of the President.
DAVE JACOBSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: He's embracing Barack Obama's agenda right here. And look I think when it's politically advantageous when you're a candidate, railing against the incumbent Presidency, capitalize on it and endorse the WikiLeaks because you're benefitting for it. Now, when you're President fast forward a couple of months, it's politically advantageous to go after Julian Assange.
THOMAS: I just don't understand why it's such a big deal when he involves to make the right decision.
(CROSSTALK)
SESAY: It's not really a secret.
JACOBSON: And he screams hypocrisy. [01:20:10] THOMAS: All right but he's allowed to evolve on the issues
and make the right decisions. Don't just laugh that the guy when he makes the right decision. It would be one thing if he reversed into a bad position.
VAUSE: Yes, boy. OK. Julian Assange made the case in an Op-ed in the Washington Post that WikiLeaks is just like any other publisher, has first amendment protection, freedom of speech on the Constitution. This is what he wrote. "Consistent with the U.S. Constitution, we publish material that we can confirm to be true irrespective of whether the sources came by that truth legally or had the right to release it to the media." This is the reason why the Obama Administration didn't go down the road with charges against Assange because it's a normal sign for journalists.
JACOBSON: Yes, but if Julian Assange had stepped out of the embassy, the Obama Administration would have figured out a way to try to arrest him and bring him into the United States. I'm fully confident of that.
VAUSE: Right, so -
JACOBSON: I don't think the Trump Administration is doing anything different from that. But you do raise a valid point, like, it is hard to go after the news organization itself. The individual is different.
THOMAS: If the Trump Administration can frame Assange as an arm of Russian intelligence and not a journalist, I think they've got a case there. But if it is equivalent to the New York Times, I don't know what they do.
SESAY: Any concern that this is the beginning of him going after people like the New York Times? That this is the President they're setting? Would Julian Assange sending a message?
VAUSE: They're failing here.
THOMAS: They're failing in a sense. I don't think so. We're talking apples and oranges. The New York Times is an arm of the Russian government, then they should be afraid. But until that point, I think they're OK.
SESAY: OK. Let's cut polls on this and talk some foreign policy matters because the President was talking tough on North Korea a little earlier on Thursday. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: As far as North Korea is concerned, we are in very good shape. We're building our military rapidly. A lot of things have happened over the last short period of time. I've been here for approximately 91 days. We're doing a lot of work. We're in very good position. We're going to see what happens.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SESAY: Well, sources have told CNN that an extraordinary number of Chinese military aircraft have been brought to full readiness possibly because of North Korea. Our own David McKenzie is in Beijing and joins us now live with the details. David, what more do we know about all of this?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we know is what that U.S. official told us, that these bombers have been placed on a high alert. Now, they said it could be because of some reaction to the ongoing tension on the Korean Peninsula, but it could be a host of other things as well, potentially even just exercises by the Chinese military. But the Ministry of Defense unsurprisingly, here in China, has not responded to our requests for comment. What we did see from Trump is that he said President Trump is that he appears to be placing the onus on fixing the North Korea situation as much on the military might of the U.S. as on Xi Jinping, the President of China. He, in that same press conference, said that Xi Jinping is helping him apply pressure that he could get, that a trade deal out of it should China turn the screws on North Korea. And while we have seen that to a certain extent, the Chinese certainly wanted to shut off all trade with North Korea because the last thing they want here is for the regime to collapse. Now, if that nuclear test happens, then we'll have to wait and see then to see what the Chinese reaction will be.
SESAY: Indeed. David McKenzie, we thank you. We want to go now to Ivan Watson who is standing by for us in Seoul, South Korea. Ivan, where you are, there seems to be some angst and unhappiness after Donald Trump said during the Wall Street Journal interview that Korea was once part of China. Lots of angry South Koreans and they're making no secret of it. Tell us more.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's - yes. And it's gone all the way up to the level of the South Korean Foreign Ministry where you have the Spokesperson on Thursday issuing a statement saying that the Ministry would be reaching out through diplomatic channels to the U.S. to China to check these facts going on to say, quote, "The international community unequivocally acknowledges that Korea was never a part of China in its thousands of years of history and no one can deny the fact." And when you talk to people out on the street, they are pretty frustrated that the U.S. President made what they see as a very false claim that Korea was once part of China. Take a listen to what some people told us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It is unreasonable to say that. It is nuts. Nonsense.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I was furious to learn the news this morning. He lacks understanding of the Korean Peninsula.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I don't know what President Xi actually said. But I think Trump has misunderstood Korean history.
(END VIDEO CLIP) [01:25:05] WATSON: Now today here in Seoul, Friday, the Korean Foreign Ministry has said that they still haven't gotten an answer back from their request for clarification on these untrue statements that were attributed to the U.S. President. We've reached out to the U.S. Embassy here in Seoul. So far, have not got an answer whether they've been formally questioned by the South Korean diplomat about this issue. But it clearly has rubbed South Koreans who have a very strong sense of identity and also experienced decades of occupation by Japan in the early part of the 20th century. That kind of statement has clearly rubbed them the wrong way.
SESAY: Yes. Some facts you just shouldn't get wrong.
VAUSE: Yes.
SESAY: Ivan Watson joining us there from Seoul, South Korea. Appreciate it, Ivan. Thank you.
VAUSE: Yes. Back to Dave and John now. Look, what is interesting though is that this is a statement from a Chinese history professor at the University of South Carolina. He actually makes the point that maybe Xi Jinping actually put this idea into Donald Trump's head during that conversation because this is where it all came from, their recent conversation. We don't know if that is true. But Dave, this is the problem when you get your Foreign Policy briefing from the President of one of your major rivals in the world, right?
JACOBSON: That's one of your biggest adversaries, right.
VAUSE: Yes.
JACOBSON: I think the question is Donald Trump is either, is he ignorant or is he embracing and advancing this alternative facts agenda and trying to change the history books? Either way, it's disturbing.
SESAY: John, what do you say?
THOMAS: Trump shouldn't be playing historian because he clearly doesn't have that knowledge. But look, a lot of those screwed up there. He's singlehandedly getting China to do something we've been wanting them to do for a long time, which is, apply pressure in North Korea. I don't know what South Koreans are bellyaching about.
VAUSE: Let's wait and see what happens to that one. OK, let's move on because guess who's coming to do that? Have a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN, ALASKA FORMER GOVERNOR: President Trump called to invite just to touch base. So, ask me then who get to D.C. and we'd be able to chat over dinner and asked if I'd invite a couple of friends.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you brought Kid Rock and Ted Nugent?
PALIN: Jesus was booked, so yes. I invited my buddies Kid Rock and Ted Nugent, some bold courageous, all-American dudes who I knew would have good conversation with the President and get to express a lot of good middle-class work ethic type issues and policy proposals that they could all relate to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: I've had it.
JACOBSON: These guys are middle class? But look, I remember during the campaign Donald Trump said I'm going to surround myself with the very best and very serious. I guess this is what he meant.
THOMAS: Having rock stars visit the White House is not a new thing. Barack Obama had all of Hollywood constantly trotting through there. I see no problem with this.
VAUSE: OK. Dave and John, thanks to you, guys.
SESAY: All right. Funny if they need to.
VAUSE: Thanks, guys.
SESAY: Thank you. All right. Now, a source tells CNN that Fox News is paying Bill O'Reilly $25 million after he was dismissed earlier this week over allegations of sexual harassment. We're learning the payout is part of the anchor's contract. O'Reilly's former boss, Roger Ailes, also received a hefty exit package when he left the network over a similar controversy. Fox News has handed over more than $85 million in such payouts. A majority to men caught in sexual harassment scandals.
VAUSE: If you do the math, Ailes got $40 million, O'Reilly gets 25. That's the 65 million out of the 85 spent. And with that, we'll take a break. When we come back, we stood defiantly against an armored truck as the protest in Venezuela become even more dangerous.
SESAY: The last haul, we'll head back to Paris to find out what investigators are saying about the man who shot and killed a police officer in a crowded tourist district.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:30:] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John Vause.
The headlines this hour --
(HEADLINES)
SESAY: Police are expected to identify the gunman in the fatal police shooting along Champs Elysees.
CNN's Melissa Bell is live in Paris with details.
Melissa, bring us up to speed. What's the latest in the investigation?
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRSPONDENT: What we heard from the Paris prosecutor, and we're expecting to hear from him over the course of the day, he was here late in the hours immediately after the attack and he spoke to reporters saying that not only have the investigators and his own office, that of the prosecutor, managed to identify the gunman and to validate that, so they were certain of the identity of the man who carried out this attack. What he did say is he wouldn't unveil it just yet because the investigation was ongoing. But there was no doubt that Paris authorities knew who this man was and positively identified him. What we're going to hear is the extent of that link between himself and ISIS. Of course, we've been talking a great deal ever since that attack last night just under 12 hours ago now that the ISIS claim of responsibility came really very fast in the aftermath of the attack with details about who the man was, and that that suggests that there was perhaps more of a link between this man and ISIS than we've seen between attackers over the course of the last few week who is sought to take on security forces as well but have turned out to be more ISIS inspired than ISIS directed.
SESAY: Melissa, we are just hours away from the first round of the French elections. Will campaigning continue as normal in light of these events?
BELL: No, definitely not. Already the leading candidates, those leading the polls out of the 11 candidates hoping to make it have cancelled their events today. Tonight, Paris time, it all comes to an end. One of the leading candidates, Manchon (ph), and le Pen also very high up there in the polls. And the Republican have all announced that they're cancelling their events today. What we are hearing and we've had this confirmed by le Pens people she's going to make a statement. This is no surprise. She was very quick to react last night. This idea of fighting is keeping France's streets safe, being the law-and-order candidate have rarely been central to her campaign and you can have no doubt that she is going to make the question of who this man was and the fact as we're hearing from sources close to the investigation that he was indeed under active surveillance by the authorities. She's going to make this central to her final hours of campaigning. That does not mean that she will not be campaigning on the back of this attack over the course of the day. That's what we're likely to see in a couple of hours' time --Isha?
[01:36:16] SESAY: We'll be watching closely.
Melissa Bell, joining us at this hour. Melissa, thank you.
VAUSE: Well, as violent protests continue in Venezuela, General Motors has now become the latest international company to withdraw from the country. It came after the government seized control of the car maker's local assembly plant.
We have details now from Shasta Darlington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Groups of protesters headed back out on to the streets of Caracas on Thursday to demonstrate against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a day after three people were killed in massive marches in the capital and around the country. The crowds on Thursday were smaller, but they also ended in clashes, and security forces firing tear gas on the protesters. Critics of Maduro accuse him of trying to turn the country into a dictatorship. They've demanded a clear timetable for regional elections, which have been delayed.
The United Nations weighed in on Thursday calling for a quick solution to the standoff and urging the government and the opposition to reactivate dialog on key issues, such as the election timetable.
Separately, General Motors announced it's halting all actions in Venezuela after authorities seized the plant and removed some vehicle from the facility. GM called the activity an illegal judicial seizure of assets. They said they're going to take action both inside and outside of Venezuela. GM employs nearly 2,700 people at his plant in Venezuela and more at the 79 dealerships around the country.
Shasta Darlington, CNN, Rio de Janeiro.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: One incident seems to have captured the defiance of the protesters in Venezuela. A lone woman blocking an armored truck apparently unfazed by the explosions and the smoke nearby.
SESAY: The truck driver eventually backed off the road. This standoff is being compared to the iconic moment you may remember from Tiananmen Square where a protester stopped four Chinese tanks from moving forward.
VAUSE: Next on NEWSROOM L.A, never-heard-before revolutions about the Hillary Clinton campaign. A new book with surprising details about the chaos inside that campaign that led to a shocking loss.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:41:36] SESAY: New details on the shooting in Paris. Prosecutors say they've identified the man who opened fire on a policeman in the Champs Elysees. One officer was killed, two more were wounded, as well as a passerby in the area. Sources say the suspect was known for radical Islamic activities and had been convicted of shooting three French police officers 16 years ago. ISIS claims the attack was carried out by one of their fighters. The suspect's name will not be released until Friday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, (D), FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE & FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Last night, I congratulated Donald Trump and offered to work with him on behalf of our country. I hope he will be a successful president for all Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: It is hard to believe not even six months have passed since that moment, since Hillary Clinton conceded to Donald Trump, losing what many of her supporters thought was an unlosable election. But now we're learning about a widely dysfunctional Clinton campaign filled with missteps, flawed strategy, and an out-of-touch candidate.
Journalists Amie Parnes and Jonathan Allen have all the details in their new book. It is called "Shattered." And they join us now from New York.
Good to see you both.
AMIE PARNES, JOURNALIST: Good to see you.
VAUSE: It goes into some incredible detail. You've got a lot of people talking to you. A lot of anonymous sources, because they wanted to speak freely. And it makes this campaign sound like it was on the Titanic in steerage. What was the most surprising revelation that you found out?
JONATHAN ALLEN, JOURNALIST: Well, I think that the most surprising thing to us about this campaign that we -- that we found out many the course of reporting this was just how much internal shuffling there was, just how much infighting there was and you know, some never reported changes that the -- in the hierarchy of the staff. Hillary Clinton had lost faith in some of the people around her. She didn't fire anybody and she kept them and some of them in important positions, but basically her chief strategist was demoted, her top policy guy became the de facto chief strategist. Her campaign manager, Robby Mook, was a little bit sidelined by the elevation of other players into a sort of, you know, a board of supervisors if you will, a six-person group called the super six that made decisions. The entire administration of the campaign was -- was a little bit of a disaster and it was something that was not reported on during the campaign.
VAUSE: Yeah, and, Amie, one of the points I thought was interesting, toward the end, they didn't even do polling.
PARNES: Yeah, we found out in the reports of this book we found out for the final three weeks they didn't do traditional polling, something that hurt them in key states like Michigan and Wisconsin. Stays she could have used to help win that night. And they relied on analytics and data instead. Something that they had done throughout the campaign to sort of guide them, and this kind of angered people like President Clinton who felt like he was on the ground and he was hearing from people who, you know, and he had a different feel for things and he kept trying to move the campaign and telling them that they should do something different, something that he felt was different, and he got pushed back from them.
[01:45:02] VAUSE: You know, one line from the book is a comment that Secretary Clinton made about the success of her rival, Bernie Sanders, this is it, "I do not understand what is happening in our country." She also questioned her staff on how to attract support from the white working class. "Why aren't they with me? Why can't we bring them on board?" That seems to sum up Secretary Clinton was not a very good candidate, at least not one who was in touch.
ALLEN: She was certainly out of touch with the sentiment rippling through the electorate, but obviously in Great Britain as well with the Brexit vote there and across Europe, this rising populism that she just couldn't get her head around. This was a problem for her in the primary. It continued on in the general election where she -- it was sort of a -- she's somebody who has longed believe that the way to make big changes in society is to work through the system. To change things through. Understanding the system and manipulating it and here you had two candidates who ran against her who basically said the system needed to be torn down and they reinforce the idea that they were outsiders and change agents and every time she went to combat them, she sounded like she was a candidate of the status quo and if we learned anything about global politics over the last few years it is that voters and countries all over the world are angry with the status quo and don't believe that it is serving them. There are so many lessons for candidates of the future and campaign operatives of the future.
VAUSE: A how-to manual of what not to do when you are running for president.
Amie and Jonathan, thanks so much. And good luck to you.
ALLEN: Thank you.
PARNES: Thank you.
SESAY: Really fascinating.
VAUSE: It is a great book.
SESAY: Look forward to reading that.
Next on NEWSROOM L.A., a widespread boycott, scandals with its CEO, and now a new website tracking all of its controversies. The problems just aren't going away for Uber.
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[01:50:52] VAUSE: Here's another issue to add to the already long problems facing Uber. Almost all of their new drivers leave after a year.
SESAY: A report from the tech website, the Information, says only 4 percent of drivers who sign up to work for the ride-sharing service are still driving a year later.
VAUSE: And now a new website, whyeveryonehatesUber.com, is tracking the company's scandals worldwide, using that information to outline the controversial and, at times, aggressive tactics Uber uses to expand its service.
We're joined now by Freem Suberman (ph), from Oakland, California.
SESAY: Good to see you. FREEM SUBERMAN (ph): Hi.
VAUSE: You say this, "That because Uber has received billions of dollars in venture capital funds that comes with demands from investors that Uber glow globally at any cost. This ranges from the questionable to the outrageous and repeated exploits in city after city and country after country."
In your opinion, what is the most outrageous tactic the company repeatedly uses?
SUBERMAN (ph): Yeah, that's a really good question. I think -- so the hard thing is customers really do love Uber because of its undeniable convenience, but I think modern consumers are starting to care more about a company's values just as much as the service as they provide and I think this really came to a head in moments like delete Uber which highlighted how opportunistic the company is to make a quick buck. As a refresher, the movement was sparked in response to surge prices during a taxi strike during the JFK Airport protests of the Muslim ban and so the movement was so successful that Uber saw a drop of 200,000 users in a single week. Which also forced the CEO to backtrack on his role and Trump's advisory board. So I think this is like a prime example of exactly how powerful everyday consumers can be in the face of even the most powerful corporations. And that they vote every single day with their wallet.
SESAY: Let me ask you this as we talk about Uber's troubling corporate practices. We understand and it's been widely reported that they have a massive lobbying operation. What part has that played toward fostering the way they do business so aggressively and basically in many cases denying local laws and guidelines?
SUBERMAN (ph): That's a really good question. I think in terms of avoiding regulation, I'd put that in that bucket. There's the obvious paying of taxes and paying money against lobbying efforts and that was over 1.3 million in 2016, in fact. But something that I think is a little less known, the times actually reported from Uber insiders that the company went as far as developing a data analysis tool called gray ball which helped Uber identify city officials so those city officials could not even book a car through Uber to investigate the service. And there's also an environmental angle to the regulation dodging as well. You know, Uber puts way too many cars on the road. Sometimes it can undermine public transportation. And I think the main point is that these regulations have all been important to keeping the taxi industry safe for decades, and the law really needs to catch up to Uber.
VAUSE: Freem (ph), you talk about the fate of so many drivers that signed up and what do they actually do to the drivers that you know, in your opinion is particularly bad?
SUBERMAN (ph): That's a really good point. While many of Uber's well paid corporate employees touted the benefits of working for the company, it comes at a high cost for drivers who face much more financial uncertainty. Uber promises drivers that they can quote, drive when you want and earn what you need, but Uber often slashes driver commissions without notice and the recruitment process encourages them to take out high interest subprime loans to get cars, without taking into account, taxes, depreciation value of cars and fuel costs.
[01:55:21] SESAY: Some of us is calling for the Uber CEO to be ousted. Talk to us about how far that will go toward changing Uber's corporate structure and its practices.
SUBERMAN (ph): Yeah, I think that's a really good question. I think it's definitely a starting point. I can't imagine a scenario where Colinick (ph) walks away with his job intact. We're at the point where Uber's own top ranking executives are starting to resign which speaks volumes. But I think in addition to Colinick (ph) changing, it goes down to changes. I think they need to ask for fair treatment providing its drivers with more pay and better benefits. They need to be more transparent with customers about where their fare goes and they need to pledge to abide by local laws and pay their share of taxes.
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: Freem Suberman there.
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: Thanks for being with us.
We should note that we did ask for someone from Uber to come on the program but they declined.
Freem, thanks for being with us.
SESAY: Thank you. We appreciate it.
SUBERMAN (ph): Thanks so much for having me.
VAUSE: I'm John Vause.
SESAY: I'm Isha Sesay.
More NEWSROOM L.A. after this.
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