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At Least One Dead, Up to 80 Hurt After Driver Plows Into Crowd at Christmas Market in Germany; Speaker Johnson: We're Not Going to have a Shutdown. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired December 20, 2024 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Breaking news ahead. A car has rammed into a large crowd at a Christmas market in Germany. Emergency services there saying up to 80 people have been hurt. At least one person is dead. The driver has been arrested. We'll have more information after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:35:00]

KEILAR: We are following right now some breaking news. A car has driven into a large group of people who were gathered at a Christmas market, a quite large Christmas market there in Magdeburg. German media says that at least one person has died. Emergency services are saying that up to 80 people are injured at this count, at this point.

Based on CCTV footage from the market that we have seen and verified but are not showing, it is incredibly graphic, those numbers will almost certainly go up. This video that, again, we are not airing at the moment shows a black car speeding through a large crowd of people. And in its wake, you can see debris. You can see bodies on the ground.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: The driver of that black car is said to be under arrest. And this new video appears to show someone being taken into custody not far from the scene, though at this point it is not clear if that is the suspect. You can see multiple police yelling and surrounding this person as they lay down flat on the ground.

Different video then shows that person being led away. That is the footage from overhead, again, not far from the scene in Magdeburg.

We have CNN's Fred Pleitgen on the phone with us. Fred, what are you hearing about what happened?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Hi there, Boris. Well, the latest information that we have, and this is coming both from German media and also from the authorities as well, is that apparently this incident, as they put it, started at around 7:00 p.m. local time, 7:04, I think is the exact time. That's about 1:00 p.m. eastern U.S. time.

And that this BMW is a black BMW, apparently just plowed very fast, as we saw in some of that surveillance camera video, through a large crowd of people in that Christmas market. You can see people trying to jump out of the way, but very difficult to do because, of course, those market stalls are very close to one another. The aisles are quite narrow, so just extremely difficult for people to get out of the way.

And indeed, the latest numbers are that the police is saying that at least one person has been killed and up to 80 people have been injured. So just to show how devastating all of that is, we know that the local hospitals in Magdeburg and in the surrounding area of Magdeburg, it's a pretty big urban area, actually, they are all gearing up for what they know is a mass casualty event. There are dozens of ambulances that we've seen there in the surrounding area trying to get to the scene, trying to help people, obviously, with so many people injured. That is a huge task for the authorities that are on the scene there.

We have heard some of the authorities speaking about an attack. Not everybody has. The chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, he's come out and offered his thoughts and prayers for all of those who were affected by all of this. And he also says that it looks like a terrible scene that is unfolding on the ground there.

Of course, one of the things that we've been speaking to as this incident unfolded and as we've been covering it is the fact that the security of Christmas markets in Germany has been a major political issue in this country.

And obviously, also a major security issue in the country, as well as the whole Christmas market industry is gigantic. And it's really a national pastime here in this country that is known to have become more dangerous since 2016, when there was a large-scale attack on one of the main Christmas markets of the city of Berlin, with about a dozen people that were killed then.

So this is known to have been an issue in Germany. This is something that the authorities have been gearing up for. And we know that a couple of months ago, one person was arrested near Augsburg for allegedly planning an attack on the Christmas market there. So the German authorities certainly were on alert for something.

Nevertheless, this does appear to be a large-scale incident that took place there in Magdeburg -- guys.

KEILAR: Yes, and we are still, Fred, we don't know the motive. We have to be clear about that at this point in time. We're looking to learn more information, which hopefully we will soon.

But this is something that is -- it's such a tradition there in Germany. It's really sort of, I think, a symbol of something very German that people are doing at the holidays, this -- you can't ignore the timing of this, right, which is 7:00 p.m. on the Friday before Christmas. And you have officials talking about this as an attack, because it is also such a target-rich environment and also the timing of when this happened, as they are questioning someone they have in -- as they have in custody right now -- Fred. PLEITGEN: Yes, absolutely. And I think that you're absolutely right to point out is that this is really a German national pastime to go to these Christmas markets. And on a 7:00 p.m. on a Friday, you obviously have a lot of people who are shopping there for the last sort of Christmas presents on the last Friday before Christmas. But, of course, also a lot of people who are just coming off work who want to drink some more wine and just be with their friends. So this is definitely would have been the time that that market would have been absolutely packed with something where you're absolutely right. This is one of the most German things I can get do on a Friday night or on a Friday evening during Christmas time.

[15:40:04]

SANCHEZ: Fred, please stand by. Let's go back to CNN anchor and correspondent Richard Quest. Richard, Fred was just speaking to the tradition and the symbolism of a Christmas market, the importance of it in German culture, also a clear soft target for someone wanting to create this sort of harm.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. And in some ways, a soft target, but one that shouldn't have been that soft. I was just looking back.

It is what, since 2016, it was December the 19th. So we're only one day off that anniversary when the Berlin attack took place. And that attack, along with Nice, that really opened our eyes to the potential of these sorts of attacks on, if you will, soft targets.

But since then, the security apparatus, as Andy McCain was saying, has been put in place that these should not be that soft in a sense, particularly on the Friday night before Christmas, when there would have been throngs of never mind just shoppers, but just people going to have a good time.

And to put this into a wider context, still, Germany at the moment is in the middle of a political crisis. It has got, of course, the government of Olaf Schultz has just collapsed. There will be elections taking place in February. And it is once again the far right that looks to stand to make gains.

SANCHEZ: And we are just learning, as you mentioned that, Richard, that the German Chancellor Olaf Schultz put out a statement this evening saying that his thoughts are with the victims of the incident at the Magdeburg Christmas market. He says, quote, My thoughts are with the victims and their families. We are at their side and at the side of the people of Magdeburg. My thanks go to the dedicated rescue workers in these anxious hours.

Richard, thank you so much for your perspective. Please stand by.

We have to take a quick break as we follow this breaking news out of Germany. At least one person dead, up to 80 injured after a driver plows into a crowd at a Christmas market.

[15:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: The following breaking news out of Germany where a car is driven into a group of people at a Christmas market in what officials are calling an attack. And you see these are live images on the right side of your screen of the official response.

KEILAR: So many people injured as we understand it at this point in time. Up to 80 according to emergency services.

We have CNN's Fred Pleitgen on the phone with us. Fred, what else can you tell us about what authorities are calling an attack here?

PLEITGEN: Hi Brianna, yes you're absolutely right. The authorities are now calling this an attack. We know that the driver is currently in custody. We know that the vehicle that was used was a black BMW that raced into that crowd. And of course we saw that devastating video of the crowd just barreling through that Christmas market.

The latest that we have is that apparently the incident started around 7:00 p.m. And one of the things that we have to point out is that this is a very large Christmas market by the standards of German Christmas markets. You've mentioned that it has an ice ring. It has a Ferris wheel. It is also right at the city hall of the city of Magdeburg, which is substantially a size city in the capital of that German state as well.

So this Christmas market is very large and at this point in time would have also been very full. And that's why the authorities are saying one of the reasons why it was so packed and why they're now speaking of as about 60 to 80 people who have been injured and who are now getting treated.

We know that all the hospitals in that area have been put on high alert and obviously are already working on what they're calling a mass casualty event with a lot of ambulances racing to the scene. A lot of ambulances already at the scene.

At this point in time, politicians and the authorities not speaking about a possible motive yet. We know that the German interior minister has come out and said and pledged support for the authorities in Magdeburg to try and come to terms with all this.

Obviously, the German federal authorities now also moving in with any sort of assets that they might have in terms of search and rescue choppers, in terms of ambulances and other things as well, trying to cope with what is a huge incident that took place there in Magdeburg.

The police are saying that the area -- and this is something that just came out a couple of minutes ago -- the area there is widely cordoned off at this point in time. Obviously, the Christmas market is no longer functioning as increasing parts of the city, the center of Magdeburg now also, of course, being filled with the authorities which tends -- to try and tend to the people who have been injured. The German authorities now really coming in, in force to come to terms with that incident. SANCHEZ: Yes, an enormous crime scene you might imagine there as investigators begin to do their work. Fred Pleitgen, thank you so much for the update. We're going to continue to follow this breaking news out of Germany.

Stay with CNN. We'll be right back.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We continue to follow the breaking news out of Germany, where a car drove into a group of people at a Christmas market. And what officials are describing as an attack. German media says at least one person has died. As many as 80 have been injured. We will, of course, stay on top of this story and bring you any more updates as we get them.

We do want to pivot to another breaking story we've been following this afternoon. Lawmakers in Washington could vote as soon as tonight on a plan that would keep the federal government from shutting down.

Let's get straight to CNN's Lauren Fox live on Capitol Hill. Lauren, we watched the initial deal implode. We watched plan B implode last night. What's the status of plan C as we're hearing that Speaker Mike Johnson is meeting with minority leader Hakeem Jeffries?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris, I've kind of lost track of which letter of the alphabet plan we are on at this point. It seems like House Republicans had gone back and forth several times this morning and into the afternoon about how they wanted to approach this.

But where things stand right now is they are eyeing putting a bill on the floor that would include a spending bill till March 14th, farm aid, disaster aid, and that they would vote on it under the suspension of the rules.

It requires two thirds majority of the House. That means two things. They have to make sure that Democrats are supportive of it in order to get their votes on this package. And it's going to be a huge question whether or not they can maintain a majority of their conference on a vote like that.

We know that one of the steps in this process was going to be Mike Johnson needed to have a conversation with Donald Trump and his team about what was in this package, whether they were supportive of it, because what it does not include is an increase in the debt ceiling. That had been an 11th hour request from Donald Trump.

And while House Republicans tried to do that on the floor last night, they failed Democrats voting largely against it. And then you had the fact that there were more than 30 Republicans who voted against that plan. Perhaps a nod to the incoming president that they tried their best, but they were unable to get that plan across the finish line. We are still waiting to know when that vote will actually happen. And it's worth pointing out that even if the House is able to move their bill tonight, it still has to go through the United States Senate, where any one member could really slow this process down. I just talked to Senator John Cornyn, the Republican whip, who made clear that what they are learning about this process over the last 48 hours is how to not do things next year.

SANCHEZ: We'll see if that is the case, and we'll see how Donald Trump reacts to potentially not having that debt ceiling suspended that he so badly wanted. Lauren Fox, thank you so much for the update from Capitol Hill.

A lot of breaking news to track not only here in the United States on Capitol Hill, but overseas as well with this tragic news of an attack at a Christmas market in Germany.

We're going to hand it over to "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper in just a few minutes. Stay with CNN after this short break.

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