New Video Shows Christmas Market Truck Attack; Security Files: Suspect Prepared in 2015 to Join ISIS
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, terror on tape. New video for the first time shows the deadly truck attack on a Berlin Christmas market while security files show the suspect was well-known to German authorities and had discussed carrying out an attack. Nuclear showdown? The Trump transition team rushes to explain a tweet by the president-elect, saying the U.S. must expand its nuclear capability. This follows a call by Vladimir Putin for Russia to boost its nuclear forces, and it comes as experts link to the Russian military a cyberattack in the U.S. Tariff threat. Sources say President Trump may act quickly to impose tariffs of up to 10 percent on imports. Will that boost jobs or boost the prices that you pay? And Jet Blue it. A man is taken off an airliner after verbally harassing Ivanka Trump and her family on their way to a Hawaiian vacation. Wolf Blitzer is off. I'm Brianna Keilar, and you're in</s>THE SITUATION ROOM. ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.</s>KEILAR: Breaking news. New video gives a first look at the horrific truck attack on the Berlin market where the massive vehicle plowed into a crowd of Christmas shoppers, killing a dozen people. And as police carry out sweeping new raids across Germany, we're getting stunning new details about the suspect. The 24-year-old Tunisian, Anis Amri's fingerprints were found inside the truck. Investigative files obtained by CNN directly link Amri to an ISIS network in Germany and show that he had previously discussed launching attacks. American officials say Amri was known to U.S. intelligence before the truck attack and had been put on a no-fly list. President-elect Donald Trump today tweeted that the U.S. must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability. His message hours after Vladimir Putin called for boosting the strike capability of Russia's nuclear forces. These comments raise troubling new questions about the future of the relationship, even as Trump's transition team rushes to explain the statement. And as president, Trump may act quickly on a key campaign theme. Sources say he may place a 5 or even 10 percent tariff on goods imported to the United States. Critics say that could start a trade war and raise prices for Americans. Supporters say it could boost jobs. I'll speak with State Department spokesman John Kirby. And our correspondents, analysts and guests are standing by with full coverage of the day's top stories. First to that Christmas market attack. As an urgent manhunt intensifies, shocking details are emerging about just how much authorities in Germany and also here in the U.S. knew about the suspect. We begin the investigation with Brian Todd. What are you learning, Brian?</s>BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, tonight we're told the chief suspect, Anis Amri, was known to U.S. intelligence before the Berlin attack. U.S. officials briefed on the investigation telling CNN Amri was put on a no-fly list, along with other members of a group of suspected jihadist supporters. U.S. and German intelligence agencies believe some members of the group were communicating with ISIS operatives responsible for plotting and directing attacks. The sources did not say if Anis Amri was one of those communicating, but tonight it is clear to German officials he is the man responsible for the carnage at that Christmas market.</s>FRAUKE KOHLER, GERMAN PROSECUTORS' SPOKESWOMAN (through translator): We were able to find fingerprints on the outside of the truck, on the door, and the door pillar.</s>TODD: Tonight, jarring new information on Amri's ties to an ISIS recruiting network and what German authorities knew well before the marketplace attack. According to German investigative files seen by CNN, an informant told police, quote, "Anis spoke several times about committing attacks." The files say members of that ISIS recruiting network backed the idea and discussed driving a truck loaded with a bomb into a crowd.</s>PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes, the Germans dropped the ball here. Yet, that's not uncommon. And in fact, in the United States, we have pretty much all the lethal attacks in the United States since 9/11 involved somebody who was known to authorities.</s>TODD: Italian police tell CNN Amri entered Italy in 2011 without any I.D. They say he served almost four years in prison there for assault, arson and other charges stemming from a brawl at a refugee center.</s>BERGEN: I think this guy looks like a lot of the other murderers that we've seen associated with ISIS in Europe. Many of them are criminals. They've gone through the prison system. They may have radicalized there.</s>TODD: After his release in May of last year, Italian police say they tried to deport Amri to Tunisia, but the Tunisians didn't accept him, because there were no reliable records on him. Amri then slipped into Germany. His brothers say when he got out of the Italian prison, Amri was a different person.</s>ABDELKADER AMRI, BERLIN SUSPECT'S BROTHER (through translator): we always had our differences and didn't agree on much. When I wanted to discuss something with him, he would end the conversation and say, "Just send my regards to the family."</s>TODD: Tonight, a massive dragnet across Europe for the suspect. In Germany, several locations and a long-distance bus were searched, but Anis Amri remains at large, armed and dangerous. (on camera): What are the Germans and other agencies doing right now to corner him?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, they're probably spending a lot of time going through the information that they have, the information from the Italians, from when he was in prison, who came to see him, who did he communicate? Did he receive packages from anybody? As a fugitive, there's two things you've got to have. You've got to have a place to hide and you're got to have resources, money.</s>TODD: Now, law enforcement veterans tell us German authorities have to be ready for a violent end to this manhunt. They say, given that Anis Amri allegedly shot and killed the truck driver, then used the truck to kill other civilians, he likely will not go out peacefully -- Brianna.</s>KEILAR: Brian Todd, thank you. Let's bring now in CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank. So Paul, as we are showing our viewers, we have this new video of the truck attack on the Christmas market, just awful. You see it go by there. And you are actually getting new information about the suspect and the investigation. What are you learning?</s>PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: That's right. And this comes from that 345-page investigative file that CNN has obtained and that I've been reading through today, lots and lots of detail. There was a police informant in this network to which the suspected attacker belonged. He was feeding back all kinds of information to German investigators, including the fact that, on several occasions, Amri months ago talked about the desire to launch an attack. But also, about a year ago, in the lead-up to Christmas, he actually was preparing to try and go and join ISIS. He was actually going on hikes, including one ten-mile hike, with backpacks to get into shape so that, when he got to Syria and Iraq, that he would be in good condition. Now, he was not able, then to travel to join the group in Syria and Iraq. And it appears that he may have become frustrated because of that fact. But members of the network were trying to help him logistically to get over there. And so lots of -- lots of information coming out from these files, including the fact that other members of the network were discussing launching a truck attack inside Germany, perhaps putting gasoline bombs into the truck. All of this months ago coming into German security services, which begs all sorts of questions. Why didn't they intercept him? Now, they did manage to arrest the five leading figures in this network in Germany in November. It was a very organized network, all reporting up to this charismatic preacher called Abu Walla, who was an Iraqi, a 32-year-old. And they were so organized that they had sort of subdivisions within Germany. And even a common curriculum for how to indoctrinate youngsters, if you can believe that, Brianna.</s>KEILAR: And what -- considering what they know about the network, Paul, did they have any sense, even broadly, of where the suspect could be?</s>CRUICKSHANK: Well, they haven't found him yet. And -- but the one thing they have going for them right now is that they have all this extensive information about this network, so they've got addresses. They've got phone numbers. They know how the network connects to each other. And all of that can give them a lot of clues in terms of where he might be hiding. But the flip-side of that is that he is apparently being supported by a network, and they may have had a plan for him to get away and then to be ready to launch follow-on attacks. And then we saw after the Paris attacks, where Saleh Abdeslam, that attacker that ducked out of the attack, he was hid by four months by that logistical support network. But the concern is that he may now move forward to launching another attack. He's considered armed and dangerous. He could hijack another truck somewhere in Germany. And these people want to go out in a blaze of glory. They desperately are seeking martyrdom so that they, in their idea, will go to paradise.</s>KEILAR: It's a scary thought. All right. Paul Cruickshank, thank you so much for your insight. There's some great new reporting. And joining me now to talk more about this is State Department spokesman John Kirby. John, thanks for being with us.</s>JOHN KIRBY, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: Happy to be here.</s>KEILAR: And Evan Perez here at CNN has reported that the suspect was known not only to German intelligence but also to U.S. intelligence, that he had been identified as someone who should be -- who should be on a no-fly list. Is there anything that you can tell us about him, what the U.S. government had on their radar?</s>KIRBY: I'm afraid not. This is an ongoing investigation. We want to get ahead of that. And I certainly can't talk to intelligence estimates here. That said, it wouldn't surprise me if this was a cell that we had knowledge of. And certainly, we have robust information-sharing arrangements with our partners in Europe, such as in Germany. It wouldn't surprise me if -- we had some context on this individual or other individuals in the cells and were acting on that inside our own law-enforcement capabilities. But again, I just don't have much detail on this one.</s>KEILAR: Is the U.S. offering any assistance in searching for the suspect?</s>KIRBY: We have certainly offered assistance to German authorities in support of their investigative process here. And that offer is open and stands -- stands open. I'm not aware that there's been any direct assistance offered and provided. But as I say, clearly, we have had long-standing information-sharing arrangements with German authorities, which I'm sure is helping to bear some fruit in their investigation.</s>KEILAR: This suspect spoke several times about committing attacks. We know that now from this reporting about a police informant. He was well-known to German police. Many people are saying that this was a failure of German law enforcement, that he was able to carry this out. What do you think?</s>KIRBY: I think it's -- I think we need to be careful jumping to conclusions right now. I mean, this attack just happened, and the investigation is just underway. And by the way, it's not just an investigation of a terrorist attack. There's a live manhunt going on. And I think it's not helpful to try to get ahead of that right now or to try to jump to conclusions and cast aspersions. I think we need to let the German authorities do their jobs. They still have legitimate concerns about this individual being on the lam and potentially armed and dangerous. We need to let them work through that. I am sure that they will be very thorough in their investigation, and that they will be transparent about it, as well. And if there's lessons to be learned, I'm positive that they'll adopt those lessons, and they'll speak about those lessons, and we'll move on. As you know, Brianna, these terrorists only have to be right once. Authorities have to be right 365 days a year, every hour of every day. And it's really hard, if not impossible, to get every single thing right and to prevent every single attack. If an individual is willing to put their lives on the line in a suicide attack or an attack like this, be willing to have themselves killed, it's very, very hard to get in front of that.</s>KEILAR: Even if they are on the radar, they've talked about an attack much like the one they carried out--</s>KIRBY: Yes.</s>KEILAR: -- they've almost gone through the deportation process, they've been identified as someone who should be deported, and then a judge releases them back into society.</s>KIRBY: Well, again, I think we need to let them work their -- worth their process here. The investigative process. And to figure out what they knew and what indications they might have had. Sometimes -- intent is very difficult to determine here in front of terrorist attacks. I'm not -- I'm not minimizing the fact that this guy was on the radar, and maybe they knew about some of his associations, but it's very difficult to go from that to being able to predict, you know, a certain specific attack on a certain specific day--</s>KEILAR: Yes.</s>KIRBY: -- and a location. Again, I think we need to let them work their investigation before we -- before we, you know, jump to conclusions.</s>KEILAR: OK. On a separate topic, there is this showdown vote that is looming at the U.N. Security Council--</s>KIRBY: Yes.</s>KEILAR: -- on a resolution that would condemn settlement activity in the West Bank, Donald Trump siding very much with Israel. And obviously, that's perhaps at odds with the White House, or it's unusual. What's your perspective on this? What some people are calling an unprecedented situation where the president-elect is taking a position that really puts the White House in a bad spot?</s>KIRBY: Well, I won't speak for the president-elect and the positions that he might take on this. What I can tell you is, as you know, the draft language of that resolution went public last night. There was supposed to be a vote today. The Egyptians, who introduced the language, asked for a postponement. And so we are postponed.</s>KEILAR: Yes. Was the U.S. going to vote? Was the U.S. going to abstain?</s>KIRBY: Well, again, I'm not going to get ahead. We never preview our votes.</s>KEILAR: OK. And I certainly appreciate it. You know, we know that Egypt is delaying the vote. But what does it mean from your perspective as a member of the Obama administration to be boxed in by the president-elect? Was there some sort of notice given or--</s>KIRBY: Well, look, I don't -- again, without previewing what we may do, if and when this resolution comes to a vote, nobody here felt boxed in by a tweet from the president-elect, and he's perfectly entitled to express his views on these kinds of things. But there was no boxing in of our purview or how we might deal with this going forward. We need to, again, let this process move forward. We'll see if it comes up again for a vote, and then we'll participate in the debate and the discussion and the vote itself. And then, as we always do, Brianna, after a vote, Brianna, we will explain that vote. We will articulate what position we took and why.</s>KEILAR: OK. John Kirby, stay with me here. We have much more to talk about, including talk from the president-elect and from Russia about increasing the amount of nuclear weapons. We'll be right back.