British Demand Russia Explain Nerve Agent Attack
ANDERSON: The U.K. and Russia are on a diplomatic collision course and time is ticking away. British Prime Minister, Theresa May, giving Russia until midnight tonight, less than nine hours away, to explain how a Russian nerve agent was used to attack a former double agent and his daughter. Both of whom are still in a critical condition. The attack also endangered British citizens in the town of Salisbury. Russia has denied involvement and now say they will not respond to the U.K.'s ultimatum until they have their own samples of the nerve agent. But after a briefing with the emergency British Security Council known As Cobra, Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, said the next move is Russia's.</s>AMBER RUDD, BRITISH HOME SECRETARY: The Russians have started responding. The Prime Minister has been very clear that they have until midnight tonight to satisfy her requests. Until then, we'll wait and see what they have put forward.</s>ANDERSON: Well, it's a story with global implications and we have all the angles for you. Nick Paton Walsh is in London for a security briefing there. While, Erin McLaughlin is in Salisbury. The community left reeling by the attack, of course. Well. And in Moscow, Fred Pleitgen with Russian reaction or perhaps the lack thereof. Nick, let's start with you. What is the latest, the very latest on the investigation?</s>NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I just heard from the man leading it, counterterrorism police officer, Neil Bus, who head of the investigation unit here at the Metropolitan Police. What is interesting is a week almost precisely since they it declared they would be the lead in this investigation, they don't actually know where it seems the poison was delivered. They are not able to specify that. We do know a few more things though as the clock ticks, frankly, towards and ultimatum that Moscow says is ignoring. So, I think all eyes really here in London focus on what response will see from Britain tomorrow. But the investigation says how 38 people needed hospital treatments, all but four are fine. Three are still in hospital. That's Sergei and Yulia Skripal and the police officer, DS Nick Bailey and another person being treated as an outpatient. But they were able to provide a time line of the event. Which is crucial in learning exactly where the poison may have been administered and whether or not a third party was involved in that. You still don't know at this stage. Now, Mr. Basu was quite clear that they are not interviewing at this point any persons of interest in the investigation. They don't have a suspect for the person who may have done the administering of the poison. They do know that Yulia, the daughter, flew in on a Saturday at about 240 from Moscow into Heathrow. Then she presumably spent the night with her father. They left in their car, a red BMW 2 Series. They gave one place or that and about 1:00. At 1:40 arrived at the Bishops Mill pub, had a drink, and at 2:20 went for a pizza at Zizzi's. Both places which are now considered to have low levels of contamination. Where people are being told to wash their cloth if they went there. And then left the pizza restaurant at about 3:3, you can only presume they spent about 40 minutes on the bench near the park before people began to call emergency services noticing that they were losing consciousness. So, a clear timeline here. But most importantly, Assistant Commissioner Basu unable to say if any of those particular places are places where people should be more on concerned about level of contamination. I.e., they don't know which one may have been where sort of the words dose was delivered. And they are asking people to come forward if they saw the father and daughter in that red BMW driving through town between about 1:00 and 1:40 on that Sunday afternoon. But importantly at this point, no other person has apparently been questioned as far as we know publicly in relation to this attempted murder.</s>ANDERSON: Nick Paton Walsh outside New Scotland yards. Fred, London has spoken. The clock is ticking. Aside from calling this a circus show, what more can we expect from Moscow? They've got an ultimate from the Brits at this point.</s>FREDERICK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they've an ultimatum. They say they don't care about the ultimatum, Becky. They say what they want from the Brits is they want samples of the alleged toxin that was use there. In the case of Sergei Skripal, they said they sent a note to the British government demanding to get that toxin, that sample, so that they can evaluate it for themselves. The Russians are saying that according to the treaty of the organization to prevent chemical weapons, which is obviously a tree to ban chemical weapons, they have a right to be able to evaluate that toxin by themselves and for themselves. And they say until that is the case, they are not going to be issuing any sort of statement towards what the Brits are saying. The Russians are even going one step further. It might surprise some people that they've called in, they've summoned the British ambassador to Moscow, and they've told him that there very concerned about this situation. Very concerned about some of the things being said in the public, being said by the British government. They also say they believe the Brits are in breach of this very treaty by not giving them the samples. And they say this could have consequences for the relation between the United Kingdom and Russia. Obviously, the Brits are saying the same thing for different reasons. But as you can see, the Russians saying they are not going to respond until they get the samples and certainly starting to fire back as well, if you will -- Becky.</s>ANDERSON: Fred's in Moscow. Let's get you to Salisbury. How, Erin, is the city of Salisbury coping at this point?</s>ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, people here are concerned and of course, on edge. Keep in mind this is an extremely tiny city of some 40,000 individuals. Previously known for its stunning cathedral and proximity to Stonehenge. Now they find themselves in the midst of this international attempted murder mystery. And people here are also incredibly concerned, as you heard Nick there say about the number of questions that police have yet to answer. Namely the source of the contamination. How Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia became poisoned? They still do not know. What we do know is that trace contamination was found in the pizza restaurant, Zizzi's, which is just behind me as well as the local pub. I was speaking to Steve Cooper, a resident who was inside the pub at the same time as the Skripals. He says, he's incredibly concerned. He thinks that the advice from public health officials to simply wash his clothes is not enough. He wants more information. And the fact of the matter is they don't have a lot of information about the type of nerve agent that was used. It was developed in the Soviet era and that's about it. Boris Johnson himself saying this is the first time it has been used to his knowledge in Western Europe. And one thing that authorities are saying is that whatever it is, it's likely to linger. So, people here are incredibly concerned about the potential health repercussions for weeks and months to come -- Becky.</s>ANDERSON: Erin McLaughlin is in Salisbury. Just ahead more on what is our breaking news for this hour. The latest chaos in the Trump administration. The sudden firing of Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson. Why? And what happens next is what we will discuss after this.