>> hello and welcome to "live from paris." i'm and that young. but look at the headlines. dealing with a terrorist attack now that a truck plowed into a crowd at a christmas market in berlin, killing 12 people and injuring 48 others. an asylum seeker is currently being questioned by police. the russian ambassador is killed by a turk police officer,

shouting out "don't forget syria." six weeks after winning the u.s. election, donald trump secures the 270 votes from the electoral college needed to formalize his presidency. annette: we begin in berlin, where german police and now -- german police are now calling a terrorist attack a man taking a lorry through a christmas market in the heart of the city. 12 people were killed and 48 others were injured. a pakistanias asylum seeker per that has been confirmed by the german interior minister.

they are questioning the man concerned. angela merkel has just held a press conference in the last hour. let's listen to what she had to say. >> a symbol of life. this symbol that was attacked, the moments of joy in the streets, are part of christmas. we refused to let the fear of evil paralyze us. we will find the strength to ,ive the lives we want to lead free, together, and in an open way. annette: let's go to our correspondent. what do we exactly know at this stage about the investigation? >> what we know, it has been confirmed that the suspect is a pakistani maman. there were two passengers, the second found dead. the driver has been arrested by the police, and he was trying to

escape the scene. he has been arrested, undergoing interrogation. he denieied the attack.. he denied the a accusations against him. was ah concern n that it pakistani asylum seeker, arriving in german and -- in to stay indefinitely, it is unclear where he entered. apparently he entered the country under a different name, so that has to be explained further. so far he denies the xa sins -- the accusationons against him. annetttte: we hahad strong words earlier from the german chancellor. , when declalared that talking about a terrorist attack, that we will not leave with fear paralyzing us. -- we will not live with fear paralyzing us. she said the perpetrators of the attack will be punished with

harsh measures. has come underel fire. after each attack, she came under fire. that is an ever increasing number of people expressing their dissatisfaction with her policy and questioning the efficienency of her policy, namy to the refugees, , each of whom are held accountable for terrorist attacks. annette: do stay with us, because we are hoping to in thte next two minuteses cross to a le press conference in berlin. i have in the studio catherine norris-trent. the factalking about that angela merkel herself is under pressure, now saying that she is going to run for a record fourth term as chancellor. how has last night's incident

affected her doing so as a result? catherine: the attack last night in berlin could dramatically for fourthchances term german elections in septembeber, 2017. scenario sheitical must have been treading. there have been several small-scale attacks in germany, but this now is a larger scale attack and will play into the hands of her political opponents , who have been criticizing her stance on refugees and immigration. remember back in 2015, there was that huge wave of migrants coming into europe, germany at the time, operating something of an open door policy. they accepted one and 1.1 million refugees, who enter germany in 2015. that has sparked a lot of criticism since then, and we

have been hearing it not only from the german far right, the alternative for germany party, which has been seeing a rise in its political fortunes. if we look at berlin in september, alternative germany made big gains. still only around 14% of the vote, but that was big gains for them. the main party, the social democrats, their share of the book plummeted. angela merkel's popularity has been plummeting. we have members of their own political party openly coming out and criticizing her. just this tuesday we have had a member of the cdu, a regional politicianan, the interior minister of the german state, in the eastern germany, saying, "we must state that we are in a state of war. some people here cannot see that." so a pretty thinly veil the

attack at german politicians and their stance on immigration. angelamerkel herself -- merkel has been taken to task by members of the public, members of her own party, over her stance on refugees. recently her party held a convention when she was carried cdu,as the leader of the by a lesser percentage than in the past. she is under pressure to make some changes, and she has been shifting her stance. .ngela merkel has backtracked she says that never again will germany allow the same quantity of refugees into the country as it did in 2015, saying that was a one-off situation for exceptional circumstances. she has also tried to strike a harder tone on immigrants, calling for a ban on the rail, saying it was not consistent with german values, and trying to strike a harder tone to

become more in tune perhaps with public fears, fears among people of her own party, and to help chances of reelection in september. annette: catherine, we will come back to you in a moment. we are hoping to cross live to the berlin press conference. it looks like it could be happening now let's cross now to hear what the german police have to say in regard to the investigation following the e horrific attack last night. , i would and gentlemen like to welcome you to this press conference. regarding the attack from last night. the mayor of berlin is here. thank you for having me.

the interior of police. and the general prosecutor from berlin. i would like to give the floor to mr. maher first. event, onea tragic that has affected the entire city of berlin. all of the city of berlin is in shock after what happened last night. our thoughts go to the victims of the families, to the loved ones, and also to the people who were wounded there were too many people hurt. last nightgentlemen, was terrible. i went on site to see what had really happened, and it shook me to my very core.

imagine arriving to a place where a few moments earlier people had come together to period andhe holiday to enjoy their time at the christmas market. and thenp in just a few momentse,riod that place turned into a place of suffering. it is very troubling, very difficult to deal with. attacks remember that can occur against our lives, against our freedoms, and that anyone can become victims of it. over the last hour, i have been very touched by the shows of support that i have witnessed in berlin and around the world. mayors inhe other

germany have called me, from munich and from paris. time tomforting at this feel how united the countries who have already experienced these kind of things are. democracy isour able to resist these events, and it shows how this instance of these democracies are united against their enemies who wish them harm. they are open, free societies. i would like also to especially who was involved in last night's shooting, who -- and last night's incident, who was involved in the rescue attempt.

i want to thank the police forces and the firefighters. they did excellent work. i would also like to thank the health workers. many hospitals set up their emergency measures, and i would like to thank them. to benot possible completely ready for this kind of attack. however, we were able to implement all of our tools in a very short timeframe. everything was done with the utmost professionalism and calm. we were able to truly help many people, so thank you, everyone. i would also like to thank the press and the media. they reacted with have actedlism and in the way the situation calls

for. colleague. the same professionalism has been observed throughout germany. the police force has reacted very well and quickly, and that is how we were able to identify the situation quickly. we were able to understand excellentd we had media support. this is good. and this is what we expect. think something that is very understanding what is going on there, in the field. peopleanding what the whwho are suffering arare experiencing. shortly we will be going to the

remembered spare this will be a time to come together. we will have a church service, speeches on this occasion. evening, after 6:00, there will be expressions of solidarity. have not seen since previous attacks. gate has beenrg lit with the colors of the flags of the countries that have been attacked, but this time the betweenurg gate will be the countries of germany. i wouldnd gentlemen, like to simply say that the situation is very trying, and that we will continue to work

solidly. but i would like to underline, berlin is only possible when its citizens from all religions, all works of life work peacefully together. remember important to that in this situation. it is important to keep this in mind and to maintain these principles. i havees and gentlemen, to say that the police forces in berlin are well-equipped and prepared. they reacted well to this crisis situation. yesterday, we know that at 8:02

the attack occurred, and it was the alarm was raised. those on site did an excellent job, and i would like to thank them. i would like to thank all of the emergency response staff, all of the police officers that helped yesterday and helped today. everyone helped to improve security in our city. following this attack, we have the p policecrease presence in berlin. asked of the 60 christmas markets in berlin to close out of respect this morning. it is not possible to close all of the christmas markets.

werew that markets closed. i believe inin theomining days e christmas markets will open once again. then need to have fun in these christmas markets. without forgetting the dignity that the situation requires. interiorter of the today called all of the ministers for interior. he offered them help, which they accepted, to help secure other gatherings in berlin and elsewhere. increased police

presence at the entrances of the christmas markets. there will be lots of police officers. -- this attack will also have repercussions for the festivities for the first of january. we will rampart what we have already set up. i already have the professional plan for an increased police presence. we will wrap that up. gentlemen, terrorists want to attack all of us. they want to attack our way of life and our way of thinking and our ways of believing. but we should not allow them to dictate to us how to live and how to think. yesterday we saw that a free , butty is fragile

destroying or weakening democracy is not the correct response to these attacks. this is why the police response during the coming days and weeks shall be increased. would like the people of berlin to not change the way they live and to not lose hope. .e should remainin levelheaded prosecutor has launched an investigation. he will be telling you about the investigation. ask all of the people of berlin and visitors who have images and video of the attack to make it available. do not put it online.

we need this footage for the investigation. finally, i have requested that at the sizable in the print half mast. >> thank you very much. >> i would like to go through the police measures that have been dictated. 8:02, the attack occurred. the alarm was raised at 8:04. after verifying the information, we launched our police operation. necessary. we cordoned off the area.

and we have already started --hering with the stages witness statements, etc.. all of our procedures went off without a hitch. we have arrested one suspect, something that is well known by now. stage i can give no more information on this, as it is the federal prosecution that handles the investigation. i am satisfied that he weighed -- that his press work has been carrying out. we are seeing real transparency in the media from us. ,nd i believe that last night the work done by the media,, difficult to remain calm in berlin.

there were rumors, there was some form of panic, but at the under the evening, it was control and calm and had been restored and operations have been carried out. the people of berlin remain calm. i believe this is the correct approach. this is something that is important going forward. the situation is as following. year, ther 14, last federal prosecution services believes that there was a high risk of attack, and that christmas markets were seen as high-risk targets. that assessment is still valid. in fact, the predictions came .rue everything do now is

that is possible to understand exactly what happened. and understand how it happened. we shall continue to seek out .otential suspects security measures shall be reinforced in the coming hours. and christmas markets shall be cordoned off well. we will set up barriers to make sure this same mo is not used again on other christmtmas parties. increase the visible, armed police presence in the christmas markets. and throughout the city. the federal police has authority this, and there are

other public gatherings that occur. sporting and cultural events will receive the same kinind of security attention as we have seen in the past. investigators are currently working on a reassessment of the threat level. currentlieve that the state of risk shall continue forward. my command role has been activated as is in the civil future.

thank yoyou. gentlemen, -- >> ladies and gentlemen, we must remain vigilant in this situation, but i would like to express my sympathy and condolences. my thoughts go to the victctims and their loved ones, and also to the family of the passenger killed in the lori. -- in the lorry. since last night, since just after the attack,k, investigators and prosecutors have been working together to whether a case should be handled by federal prosecution services or not, i.e., what is a terrorist attack? throughout the night, local

prosecution services met with the federal prosecution services and other berlin lawyers and such. we had a conference call earlier today with the various heads of the federal prosecution services . at 8:15 this morning, it was decided all investigations will be handled by the federal prosecution service. they are made by all the investigators, and as he just said, the federal prosecutor will be able to give us more information on the attack during an upcoming press conference. thank you.

>> thank you. i would like to tell you about -- the alarm was raised atw1w1w1

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