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EARLY START

UK To Review Its Counterterror Strategy; UK Elections Still Set For Thursday; UK Elections Still Set For Thursday; UK Ramps Up Terrorism Response; ISIS Claims Responsibility For London Attack; Facebook Vows To be "Hostile" To Terrorists; Britains 3rd Terror Attack In 3 Months; London Police Responded To Attack In 8 Minutes; Survivor Speaks Out; London Attack Witness Tells His Story; Trump's London Response; Trump Eases Rhetoric On London Attack; Trump Pushing $1 Trillion Infrastructure Plan; Fired FBI Director Set To Testify Thursday. Aired 4:30 5a ET

Aired June 5, 2017 - 04:30   ET

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


[04:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, "EARLY START" HOST: ...he is there again for us now bringing us up to speed on all of the developments. Good morning, Fred.

FREDERICK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Christine. Yes and one of the things with this investigation that's going on where you mentioned there are several people in custody and a lot of forensic evidence has already been collected, is the authorities want to find out whether or not there was some larger group behind this attack or whether it was these three people - these three attackers acting mostly on their own.

That's why several people are in custody and that's why those people are being questioned. The Brits, at this point, are saying they're more concerned with home-grown terrorism, rather than any sort of plot that may have been steered from abroad, but of course, this investigation is still ongoing. At the same time, Theresa May did indeed say that there will be a review of this country's counterterrorism policies and the strategy as well.

She said she believes four things specifically need to change. Pluralistic British values must defeat Islamic Extremism, she said. Democratic governments must regulate cyberspace. Of course, cyberspace is a major issue right now especially in dealing with the communications ahead of these attacks. Military action to destroy ISIS abroad, less tolerant of extremism in the UK, that was an interesting point that she brought up, where she felt that there was too much tolerance for extremist values in the UK.

And also a review of the counterterrorism strategy, so police have all the powers they need. Again, the government here is saying, guys, that they believe that the response was very quick and adequate, but at the same time, they want to make sure that they keep reviewing their counterterrorism policies and strategies to make sure that the police have everything they need at all times to get the intelligence right so these things don't happen in the future, but then when they do happen, to be able to respond quickly and in force.

ROMANS: Wow, eight minutes, that's really remarkable. I know, you've got an election coming up there in the UK, how do you think this is going to play?

PLEITGEN: Well, I think that this is becoming a very important topic in the run-up to the election. Both major political parties have said that there is no way that this election would be derailed by an incident like this. In fact, the man who is running against Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn and like -- said he likened this to a battle between terrorism and democratic values.

At the same time, you know, originally, this election was called because of Brexit -- because Theresa May felt that she needed a stronger majority in the Brexit negotiations with the European Union. But now, of course, with these incidents taking place, the one in Manchester just a couple of days ago and then, of course, the one here, it really is that terrorism and security -- internal security, have become major, major issues here for voters.

And that's certainly something that is going to play into the election that's happening in just a few days.

ROMANS: All right, Frederik Pleitgen for us in London. Thank you so much.

DAVE BRIGGS, "EARLY START" HOST: All right, let's bring in CNN Law Enforcement Analyst, James Gagliano, retired FBI supervisory special agent and adjunct professor at St. John's University. Good morning to you, sir.

JAMES GAGLIANO, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Good morning.

BRIGGS: All right, let's start with ISIS taking credit for this attack. Your instinct is to not give them credit because there is no proof to show that they had anything to do with this attack.

GAGLIANO: Sure. It has followed the typical kind of template for ISIS. They typically wait 18 to 24 hours before they make their announcement. And a lot of folks are concerned because they say, well, there's no proof -- there's no forensic evidence to date. And, we don't know if the British don't have something right now that definitively ties it back to ISIS.

BRIGGS: Yes.

GAGLIANO: We've got to be careful. I think what your viewers need to understand is, you know, we're in this big debate right now about control of information, and you even go back in this country, in 1971, when "The Anarchist Cookbook" was published.

ROMANS: Right.

GAGLIANO: And remember people screamed about that because you could go to the New York Metropolitan Library and pick it up.

BRIGGS: Yes.

GAGLIANO: We want free speech. We want people to be able to read what they want and listen to what they want, but this is how ISIS does it. They are propaganda masters.

ROMANS: And it's so much easier now than in 1971 because someone can just send it to you, it can pop up on your feed. There are all kinds of ways that people are exposed to this. Let's talk about the whole cyberspace regulation issue because Theresa May said that we need to do a better job of regulating the safe spaces where this ideology grows.

We don't know what inspired these three people. We don't even know anything about these people right now as this investigation is underway. What about that Jihadist ideology and how it just -- it just blossoms online?

GAGLIANO: Absolutely. And what ISIS is doing is they're taking a page out of the Al-Qaeda playbook. Al-Qaeda came up with a magazine -- an online magazine called "Inspire"...

ROMANS: Yes.

GAGLIANO: ...and Samir Khan, Anwar al-Awlaki, these are folks that put out information through that and it was - it was a means to take this affected youngsters who wanted to be martyred and gave them the impetus to go do that. What ISIS does now is theirs is different. Theirs is basically videography and taking pictures of gruesome images of people being emulated or beheaded and then putting that online.

How do we regulate that, though? I know that, you know, gruesome videos can be pulled off of YouTube, but usually it usually takes a while for that to happen, but in the age of being able to share information easily and quickly through smartphones, it's just impossible - literally, it's a game of whack-a-mole trying to keep these things from the wrong hands.

[04:35:00] BRIGGS: But as people sit here in the United States and say, all right, that is three attacks in 10 weeks in the UK, what is it about the UK that makes them vulnerable to this type of attack or this type of radicalization?

GAGLIANO: They're friends of the U.S. and for many in the Jihadi World, the globalized Jihadi World, we are the Great Satan and anyone that stands with us is part of that, too. So, I think that this is part and parcel because they hate western democratic values and they see Britain standing resolutely with us.

ROMANS: Sometimes these people are just like sort of lost, you know? I mean, the profile of some of these guys is just so frightening...

GAGLIANO: Misguided.

ROMANS: ...because they could, you know, they're radicalized in prison or, you know, lost - lost souls who somehow just turn evil here. I want to talk about the mode here, a van on a bridge, three guys with fake suicide belts or suicide vests depending on what you hear from the witnesses, foot-long hunting knives. It looks like the barrier of entry here pretty low. What do you - what do you make of how this attack was conducted?

GAGLIANO: Sure. And I think when we described it as a van, it's almost too benign a term. You know, you look at the physics application, force equals mass times acceleration. The mass of that van, which probably weighed 6,000 pounds going 50, 60, 70 miles per hour, it's a missile. And the most dangerous part of that this is anybody can buy a vehicle, anybody can buy a machete and it's not...

ROMANS: Or rent a vehicle.

GAGLIANO: ...exactly, and it's not tracked. If you go out and try to buy TATP or C4 or even fertilizer and diesel fuel, you're on our radar in the FBI. You go buy a machete or you go buy a van, no one's watching.

ROMANS: That van in the east attack I think is stolen, too.

BRIGGS: But eight minutes from the time the first emergency call went in to the time that these three gunmen were put down, what can you say about the police response?

GAGLIANO: As a former member of the FBI's hostage rescue team, my hat is off to the first responders. It was amazing how quickly they were able to resolve that situation. Again, we grieve the seven deaths, and the death toll may rise.

BRIGGS: ...21 in critical condition.

ROMANS: ...21 are critical, right.

GAGLIANO: But, the way they kept it under control, and were able to neutralize those three folks in eight minutes, it is - it's stupefying and I applaud them.

BRIGGS: All right, James thanks so much. We appreciate your insight.

All right, emotional stories of survival following this latest attack. Next, we speak to a man who escaped the attackers, his defiant response. You don't want to miss that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:40:00] ROMANS: Londoners running for their lives as a rental van mows down pedestrians and the attackers go on a stabbing-spree. Among those caught in the rampage, Richard Angell, now says even after witnessing, Saturday Night, the carnage, he won't let the terror threat change his routine.

BRIGGS: Richard joins us live from London. Good morning to you, sir.

ROMANS: Good morning.

BRIGGS: If you could just retell your story in the moments... RICHARD ANGELL, WITNESS TO LONDON BRIDGE ATTACK: Good morning.

ROMANS: ...as this all took place.

ANGELL: I was having dinner with a group of friends not far behind me in Borough Market. We were sitting at the table nearest the door, and suddenly, it became clear that the market security were telling us to lock the door and duck and cover. A young, brave man from the restaurant, one of the waiters, put his foot behind the door and his weight behind it to close it down so nobody could get in, and people turned over tables, got under chairs, and rightly and understandably panicked but did what they could to get away from the danger.

I was able to take a look around and see what was happening. I saw somebody in the restaurant opposite, throw a table at someone. I was unclear what that was at the time, but it turns out to be this wonderfully heroic man who was witnessing -- who was witnessing this barbaric, vial, evil, but cowardly people stabbing a young woman. He threw glasses at them, bottles, a bike and a table to try and make them stop. He was one of the heroes of that night.

I was unable to look up and I saw a guy who was holding his chest or his throat, absolutely covered in blood as he walked away and meandered through the market. And I just hope that guy and the other woman in the same situation found the medical help that they needed. We brought them all to the restaurant we're in. We got people safely upstairs. We close down the fire escape and stop people leaving by that route, which I think would have been very dangerous, and we stopped and waited.

And we saw the police arrive within seconds, it felt. Within minutes, they had done a sweep of the place, gunshots went off. They did two more sweeps. They had an armed guard outside our restaurant. More gunshots went off. It felt like an age, but these wonderfully professional people did it all in eight minutes.

ROMANS: It's remarkable to me in just eight minutes that they were -- well, the three suspects were shot dead just eight minutes after that first call. It is remarkable to me how quickly the police responded, and it's also just the idea, you know, of the patrons. It must be so shocking to see someone with a foot-long knife coming to...

BRIGGS: And what looked like a suicide vest.

ROMANS: Right, but to have them - to have the wherewithal to be able to fight back, what is it about Londoners that there were so many people fighting back?

[04:45:00] ANGELL: I don't know. I didn't see these cowardly people do what they did, but I saw those acts of defiance. The guy that gave us a heads-up when he could have run away, the guy that was throwing stuff at these cowardly people, the guy who put himself in the glass door to make sure it was bolted closed before they found the key, the emergency officers and the first responders that were there and kept us safe, the paramedics who, maybe I knew this before, but for the first time realized, they run at danger. They then turn their back on the danger to put the life in front of them together while the rest of us are running for our lives. They're the heroes of London. Manchester showed the best of Britain two weeks ago, and Londoners are doing the same now. And I am proud to be a Londoner, proud to be part of this city and proud to be the response that says we will not be victims of these people. They shall not, cannot, will not win, and we will not change our way of life.

BRIGGS: And Richard, in the wake of this attack, there was an increased police presence in London. We can see it behind you, ongoing as we speak. And Sadiq Khan, your Mayor said there's no reason to be alarmed about that increased police presence. President Trump then went on the attack on twitter of your mayor. You took exception to that. Why? And what's your message to President Trump about Londoners?

ANGELL: Because Sadiq Khan speaks for our great city. He is the one that is bringing people together. When they hate our pluralism, our democracy, our diversity, and crucially our unity, Donald Trump should not have delivered them a victory in seeking to divide us in attacking a mayor that got over a million votes and is somebody that we are proud of and stood up for all of us on that day.

He is a great guy, and you know, all politicians in many ways are floored. But he was doing what was right by his city, and Donald Trump should back off our mayor and stop giving these terrorists a victory, because that's what they want. And we refuse to have our way of life changed by them. It's me having a gin and tonic with my friend, flirting with handsome men and hanging out with strong women or offended people so much, I'm doing more, not less.

And the fact that there are people who turn up to work every day, wearing uniform could be target themselves, have family at home that might not know whether they come home, they're the remarkable people and they are the people we should do a service to and Donald Trump did a disservice to in his pathetic and snide tweets.

ROMANS: Three attacks in 10 weeks, there are - there are people who would be afraid living in a country where there are three attacks in 10 weeks, you're not afraid?

ANGELL: Of course, people will be afraid, and that's an understandable reaction, but we must make sure for those of us, where it can, life goes on. The seven families that have lost someone, the people sitting by a hospital bed right now, we understand for them that they're in mourning and it's a time for them to reflect, and they will be deeply upset.

And of course some people will be scared, but to be scared and to not go back to the fabulous restaurant I was at where my duck dinner is still sitting and has yet to be finished, would be to live these people a victory. We live in the best city in the world. Sorry for those great cities in America, but we live in the best city in the world.

And it's because we have those brilliant bars, the great diversity, people coming together, the melting pot that is London, and I'm not going to let that change for a second, and other people shouldn't give them victories on my behalf, because I and others survived that evening, and I'm going to tell the best of London's story, not go to the worst of humanity's cynicism.

BRIGGS: We mentioned your mayor, but your prime minister with another strong response, but in her comments saying things need to change, Theresa May said there is far too much tolerance for extremism in our country. Do you get that sense, Richard?

ANGELL: I don't know what she means by that. She'd been home secretary for six years and prime minister for a year, so I don't know if she's been part of the problem or solution for that time, but I think politics on that level is for another day. I'm somebody who is coming out of this and trying to tell a story about how London is being united and defiant.

And you know, I'm keen to go back to that restaurant to pay the bill, to tip the staff who bravely fought about our lives when their lives were at risk. If people clever than me, more thoughtful and can take the time to work at how we prevent things like this, they should do and I hope they do that but I don't think this is time for the bickering or for that kind of - that level of politics. British people go to the polls on Thursday this week.

ROMANS: That's right.

ANGELL: And I have a view about how they should vote, but I don't want to share it. I want to share that they should go and vote in large numbers.

ROMANS: Richard Angell, very nice to meet you this morning under these terrible circumstances. Thank you very much for telling us your story this morning.

BRIGGS: I think the spirit of London in Richard Angell, right there, eloquent response. Moments after the London attack, President Trump retweeted "the drudge report" and used the incident to renew calls for his travel ban, more on that next here on "Early Start."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:50:00] DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We renew our resolve, stronger than ever before, to protect the United States and its allies from a violent enemy that has waged war on innocent life, and it's gone on too long. This bloodshed must end. This bloodshed will end.

BRIGGS: President Trump sounding more diplomatic last night after heavy criticism for his initial response to the London terror attack. Initially, the president retweeted a "drudge report" headline about terror in London, then used the attack to call for the reinstatement of his travel ban, now blocked by the courts, "we need to be smart, vigilant, and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the travel ban as an extra level of safety."

ROMANS: Let's turn to political economist, Greg Valliere, Chief Strategist for Horizon Investments. Good morning and the president after about a week now being at odds with the international community uses a terror attack on British soil, the third in 10 weeks, to talk about his own domestic agenda. Is he still at odds with the rest of the world here?

[04:55:00] GREG VALLIERE, CHIEF STRATEGIST, HORIZON INVESTMENTS: Who could summarize better than that chap you just had on? What a spectacular interview that was, and I think he and a lot of people in England resent this. They resent being used as a foil for Donald Trump to talk about his initiatives, his feud with the Mayor Of London, all of these things that really I don't think were appropriate in the hours following this tragedy.

ROMANS: There's appropriate -- there's also his agenda.

VALLIERE: Right.

ROMANS: Where is the president on his agenda right now? We're going to hear him talking infrastructure, unveiling infrastructure, but in terms of domestic agenda, whether it's tax cuts, healthcare, or infrastructure, he's been overshadowed, hasn't he?

VALLIERE: You would think so. And I've -- look at the big three, health reform has stalled in the senate. Even if the senate did pass it, I don't think the house would agree. Tax reform is just a one-page piece of paper. To my knowledge, there's no bill. And third, you've got now starting today an infrastructure initiative, a great photo op, but no details, no explanation on how you pay for it.

BRIGGS: Yes. Sarah Huckabee Sanders will talk to the media at 1:30 at a press briefing. It will be difficult to turn the page to infrastructure indeed Greg with...

VALLIERE: Yes.

BRIGGS: ...Mr. Comey testifying...

VALLIERE: Yes.

BRIGGS: ...on capitol hill...

VALLIERE: Right.

BRIGGS: ...this week, how consequential is what the former FBI director is about to say?

VALLIERE: It will be a big deal. I recall Tom Wolf in "Bonfire of the Vanities" wrote about how every crisis like this has a predictable result. So, you're going to have Comey with more bombshells, you'll have Trump savagely tweeting about Comey, you'll have Schumer talking about impeachment, you'll have the Republicans saying it's not warranted, and you'll have the markets probably still doing well.

ROMANS: Yes, that's my question, because you advise Wall Street on what's happening in Washington. And CEOs, we hear they don't want to be tarnished with brand Trump...

VALLIERE: Right.

ROMANS: ...but they still have really profited under the Trump presidency.

VALLIERE: Yes.

ROMANS: I mean, square that for me.

VALLIERE: Well, the regulatory environment clearly has been less adversarial than it was during the last eight years. So, I think business leaders like that knowledge that things are a little more friendly for them. And I still think they're hoping down the road that we're going to get really significant tax reform. Unfortunately, I think that tax reform could be a year away before it gets enacted.

ROMANS: A year away, there's a lot of work to do. I mean, we hear there's a bill...

VALLIERE: Yes.

ROMANS: ...but there's no bill.

(Crosstalk)

ROMANS: I mean, the president said there's a bill...

VALLIERE: Right.

ROMANS: ...but there's no bill.

VALLIERE: Yes, the process, though, is still alive. If we woke up two weeks from now and it looked as though tax reform was totally dead, that would be a bad story for business, and I think the markets. But as long as the process is alive, very glacial progress, I think the market is going to live with that.

ROMANS: Yes.

BRIGGS: All right. Greg valliere, appreciate you joining us...

VALLIERE: All right.

BRIGGS: ...extra early here on a Monday.

ROMANS: Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.

VALLIERE: Yes.

BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. "New Day" starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SIRENS)

[05:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There were sirens everywhere.

(SCREAMING)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People screaming, the glasses smashing on sharp (ph).

THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: It is time to say enough is enough. When it comes to taking on extremism and terrorism, things need to change.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People just kept running down the street. Like this one girl saying that they're stabbing everyone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will never let them win, nor will we allow them to coward (ph) our city or Londoners.

TRUMP: This bloodshed must end. This bloodshed will end.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think that a major terrorist attack like this is a time to criticize a mayor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't continue to call for this travel ban, which in many ways might actually incite more incidents.

TRUMP: I will do what is necessary to prevent this threat from spreading to our shores.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is "New Day," with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.

CHRIS CUOMO, "NEW DAY" HOST: Good morning. Welcome to your "New Day." It's Monday, June 5th, 5:00 in the east, and we do have breaking news. Our starting line has ISIS claiming responsibility for Saturday night's terror attack in London. Seven people lost their lives, 48 others injured. London police have not released the identities of the three attackers, but they say they have seized a huge amount of forensic material after several raids. Eleven people are in custody at this hour, and the police chief just seemed to indicate that they're dealing with a home-grown terror problem.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, "NEW DAY" HOST: President Trump being criticized for stoking fear after the weekend attacks in London as part of an ongoing feud with London's mayor. So, all eyes are on Washington at the same time, because fired FBI director, James Comey is going to testify this week.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people uniting to honor the victims of the Manchester terror attack two weeks ago. Ariana Grande bringing message of defiance in a moving concert tribute, so CNN has every angle covered. Let's begin with Senior International Correspondent, Clarissa Ward, live in London for us. What's the latest, Clarissa?

CLARISSA WARD SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Alisyn. Well, we're here near the site of one of the attacks in Borough Market. You can see behind me there is still a large police present. And yesterday the police were saying they did not believe there was any larger network involved with this attack today. It seems to be dialing that language back a little bit saying that they are still investigating whether or not there is a larger network, 11 --