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Police Arrest 53-Year-Old White Man in Liverpool Incident; Trump Says Putin "Has Gone Absolutely Crazy" in Post; Police Arrest 53-Year-Old White Man In Liverpool Incident; Crypto Investors Charged With Kidnaping And Torturing A Man In An New York City Apartment For Weeks; Pro-Russian Trolls Seize On Emmanuel Macron's Awkward Moment With Wife. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired May 26, 2025 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:21]
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Good evening, I am Richard Quest. We are following the breaking news tonight out
of Liverpool in Northwestern England, where police say they have arrested a man after a car ran into a crowd during Liverpool Football Club's victory
parade that was taking place in the city.
The video of what happened is now on social media. You will understand I am only showing you a still frame as the video, frankly, is far too disturbing
having seen it in its entirety.
The fans and police can be seen surrounding the car after it comes to a stop. The authorities say the person arrested is a 53-year-old man from the
Liverpool area.
Anna Stewart starts our coverage with me tonight.
This was a long parade. I mean, there was much to celebrate. Liverpool's 20th Club victory and title. Talk us through the story of what took place.
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Yes, this was a day of jubilation with thousands of people lining the streets of Liverpool. It was a victory
parade. It is unclear how a car could even get onto this parade, which was very much pedestrianized. It was honestly chocker block of people.
The video, as you say, is extremely disturbing. It happened just after 6:00 P.M. here in the U.K. So that's about three hours ago.
Police were called and they have actually the Merseyside Police put out a statement saying a 53-year-old White male has been arrested. He is from the
Liverpool area, giving added description perhaps that we wouldn't normally expect, perhaps to combat all the speculation online that this could be
terror related, at this stage, the police say people must not speculate on the circumstances. Inquiries are ongoing.
They are asking people not to circulate the disturbing video that you've seen, Richard, and many other images that we are seeing on social media at
this stage. It is unclear how many people have been injured. Clearly, injuries have been sustained from what we've seen or, you know, we don't
even know what the gravity of those injuries may be.
What we can see from the recent pictures that have come out of Liverpool is a huge presence in terms of the emergency services, police, ambulance,
firetrucks all on the scene. And of course, those thousands of people have now been dispersed and have left.
We are expecting a press conference from Merseyside Police in about an hour-and-a-half, so we may get more information then.
QUEST: Okay. Now, can I just -- let's just explain. Besides the awfulness of this incident, however, it proves to be, why the authorities have extra
concern as a result of a previous incident last year in Southport and what followed on from that?
Because again, Southport on Merseyside, which is up in the northwest of England, very close to Liverpool. Give me some background that will just
give a bit of context as to the concerns tonight besides and over and above the worries for those who have been injured.
STEWART: There was an horrific accident in Southport, as you say last year. That was another story that we covered. A man stabbing children at the
Taylor Swift party or sort of yoga class, I think it was. Many were injured and several were killed at that incident.
And what happened was in the huge gap between the incident taking place and information getting out to the public, there was huge speculation as to
what had happened. A lot of people pointed to racial tensions, that this was racially motivated, that this was a terror attack. And so I think what
we are seeing here potentially, is the police trying to nip that in the bud and stop that from circulating before it kind of gets out of control.
QUEST: Sure. Just to reiterate, we have no casualty details. We don't know exactly who, what, where or why, but we are expecting to be updated from
the authorities within the next couple of hours, as I understand it. Is that correct?
STEWART: We will get an update from Merseyside Police in an hour-and-a- half. And also, Richard, we do have a statement from the Prime Minister who has posted on X. He says that his thoughts are with all those injured or
affected, and he wants to thank the police and emergency services for their swift and ongoing response to this shocking incident.
He is being kept updated on developments, as you would expect for such a major incident. So he is on this tonight. And of course, we are also
getting lots of statements from Liverpool Football Club, from local rival, Everton, from the Premier League. Everyone sort of outpouring their
thoughts to all those who are affected.
QUEST: And we will come back to you when there is more to report. You'll stay with us, Anna Stewart, in the hours ahead. Thank you and I am
grateful.
You're going to hear over the next couple of hours, we will hear somewhat interchangeably the phrase Liverpool and Merseyside. Just to give you a bit
of perspective, I am sure there are many of you who are well familiar with this because of the famous nature of the club, but Merseyside is the county
where Liverpool is based, so you often, obviously because of the River Mersey, which is next to where this incident took place.
[16:05:09]
There you have it. London, up in the northwest of the country, Liverpool, funnily enough, where I was born and brought up. So I know the area well, I
know exactly where all of this took place, and I think that -- so that area around Liverpool is known as Merseyside. That's the county, and if you
like, the regional government and county seat. So you'll hear us use that as well.
One of the reasons, if not the, one of the reasons for today's parade through the center, bearing in mind again, let me give you more background.
In a sense, it was a bank holiday in the United Kingdom, in England, so there will have been extra people there. And the reason there was a parade
on Merseyside, Liverpool was because Liverpool was celebrating its 20th top flight club league title.
Team members were being driven through the city on an open top bus. This is the traditional sort of way they celebrate as seen all over the world.
Videos show large crowds lining. It was ten miles, 15 kilometers long was the route. Liverpool Club says it is in direct contact with the police
following the incident and obviously its thinking of those and the thoughts and prayers.
Patrick Snell is with me now.
Give me the reason why the significant -- I mean, obviously it was a parade to celebrate a victory of the league, but you know, it was a big -- it was
a big celebration.
PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Yes, it was huge, Richard and absolutely really concerning to see. This was meant to be a day of
jubilation and celebration for one of the most famous and iconic names in the world of football.
Liverpool are a powerhouse name, as you well know, Richard, both domestically and globally as well a massive global brand. They just drawn
level with Manchester United, their great rivals, in getting to 20 top flight titles. They are also six-time champions of Europe as well.
Liverpool had clinched the Premier League title several weeks ago, so we knew this day of celebration was coming. And you have some of the most
famous footballers in the world, Richard, on that open top bus, weaving its way through the Liverpool City center area and just really, really
concerning scenes as this day has played out.
But earlier in the day it was jubilation. It was absolute joy and ecstasy as Liverpool celebrate number 20 and as I say, they've known this day was
coming and just contrast it to the last time they won the Premier League title, Richard, which was in 2020 at the height of the COVID era. They had
to celebrate when they won the title that year in an empty stadium that was under then head coach from Germany, Jurgen Klopp.
So the fans were determined to celebrate in style. And why not? Because they had earned the right to do that. A magnificent season from the Reds.
Streets ahead of every other rival and you can see there the scenes earlier in the day, those top stars, including stars like Mo Salah, the Egyptian
icon as well. The thousands of flags that we had seen as well unfurling as the team went on a three-hour victory parade. They are really basking in
the atmosphere on a slot.
The head coach, what a dream first season. He has had in charge of the Merseyside Club and the and the red smoke as well, just celebration and
just so sad to see how this day has ended in culmination, really concerning scenes -- Richard.
QUEST: With the new manager, the league, the Premier League title doing extremely well. There wasn't a lot of victory elsewhere for Liverpool
during the course of the season, but I don't think that really matters in a sense, because clinching the Premier League is in a way the big one in the
sense that it shows you've got sustainability, you've got power to keep going. It is not just a one hit wonder of a match.
SNELL: Absolutely. And Liverpool fans will absolutely -- they are so delighted that they've drawn level with their great rivals, Manchester
United. The two cities, as you well know, about 35 miles apart. Lots of rivalries between the two cities during the Alex Ferguson era at Man
United, they were the dominant team under -- in English football under Ferguson. But Liverpool drawing level since Ferguson retired.
So both teams now have 20 top flight titles, though Liverpool, of course, their fans will tell you they have doubled the amount of European cups or
Champions League triumphs than Manchester United -- Richard.
QUEST: I am grateful. Patrick, thank you very much. Patrick Snell joining us next hour as we continue. We are going to be looking at all aspects of
the breaking news from Liverpool as we continue.
I think the important point, just to emphasize now is not so much what we know as Max would say, it is what we don't know. We don't know the cause,
the motive, the reason. We don't know deliberate or terrorism. We don't know how many were injured. We don't know the severity of the injuries.
If you look at the pictures that are online and we are not deliberately showing you them because they are pretty horrific for anybody to be
viewing, then it is hard not to conclude that there will be life-changing injuries for many people who will have been struck by the vehicle, but
that's about as far as we can go, because we don't know the circumstances other than what we've been able to tell you so far.
[16:10:23]
We will want to know, though, I think, and it is a very important question, how and why was that car able to get anywhere near what happened? Bearing
in mind the events of Germany earlier or late last year at Christmas? Why was this ever even likely to be possible? We will talk about it after the
break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Police in Merseyside say they've arrested a man following a car running into the crowd during the Liverpool Football Club's victory parade
for the Premier League. There is video on social media far too disturbing to show here, but where you can see fans and police surrounding the car
after it comes to a stop. According to reports, they beat-up the car and indeed the man. But we are waiting for confirmation on all the details.
The authorities say the man arrested is a 53-year-old man from Liverpool and those details will be confirming as things go on.
Will Geddes is a managing director in International Corporate Protection Group. He joins me now. Good to see you, sir. We should talk on more
pleasant occasions, but we do and I am just -- I've just been looking back at incidents like this and we don't know what this is all about. We do not
know.
But the number of ramming of vehicles into crowds has been on the rise, including Marburg in Germany just before Christmas, five dead then. You've
got, of course, in Canada, 25 killed in Vancouver last year and the worst incident, of course, in Nice in 2016 with more than 80 deaths.
So how do you factor -- what are you looking for in this one?
WILL GEDDES, MANAGING DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL CORPORATE PROTECTION GROUP: Well, you know, Richard, you know what it is like, you know, you're a
seasoned veteran of unfortunately reporting on these kinds of events, whether they be terrorist related or just massive tragedies.
But at the moment, this seems very, very odd, Richard. There are a lot of questions that I would like to hear answered, certainly by not only
Liverpool and Merseyside Police, but also by Liverpool and Merseyside Councils.
You know, as you've just catalogued, one of the greatest risks that we face these days is someone who is in a vehicle, which is a lethal weapon in
itself, driving into a crowd. Now, you had many supporters, many people who turned out, families that had turned out to celebrate, obviously, Liverpool
Football Club on this particular evening and this is a bank holiday weekend here in in the U.K., and so inevitably there is a lot of people who won't
be working, who would have been able to attend.
[16:15:20]
Now, hostile vehicle risk mitigation measures are things which have been introduced since 2017, when we had that series of attacks. And these are
things that are sort of blistered into our landscape around cities, including concrete planters for various different reasons and various
different sort of locations that look esthetically nice, but would prevent a vehicle like this carrying out an attack.
Now the second thing, which I really want to hear from the Council about is why wasn't this particular street cordoned off, Richard? You know, you have
all these people who have turned up, these streets should have been cordoned off. There shouldn't have been a possibility for a vehicle to get
through.
QUEST: Interesting on this. I think one of the issues that is going to come to for clarity is just the sheer length of the parade route. In Bundaberg
in the Christmas markets, of course, you're talking about a fixed area of relatively, relatively small duration. New Orleans, it was, again,
similarly relatively small.
Here we have, by all accounts, a parade route of some 15 kilometers, for understandable reasons. The popularity of the club and the victory, that is
much more difficult to police.
GEDDES: It is difficult, Richard. But again, look at the number of marathons that we've had across the world since the Boston terrorist attack
at the Boston Marathon. You know, these are events which are very, very well planned. And certainly, you know, for a number of different reasons,
you know, you need to keep the general public safe, not only for access to where the main festivities may play out, but also for their egress for them
leaving.
So you can make sure that vehicles for mechanical failure may not potentially cause damage accidentally. I mean, in this instance, having
seen extensive footage which has obviously been reposted by members of the general public who bore witness, you know, this was a very determined, very
deliberate attack by this vehicle.
QUEST: You see that? That's what I was next going to, to lead you into deeper waters, will and say, you know, you've been doing this a long time
with respect, and what does your smell test tell you?
GEDDES: Well, a long time, I suppose we could we could quantify as 30 years of doing this, Richard and we've spoken certainly over a number of those
years. My gut feeling right now is although the individual -- I have seen footage of the actual driver himself, although he fits into this category
of a white, Caucasian, British male that doesn't mean that it isn't necessarily tied to terrorism. I am not saying that it necessarily is and
we would have to wait for the police to come forward on this to confirm exactly what happened here.
But again, there is enormous amounts of distrust, Richard, amongst the general populace and the general populace, in the general public in the
U.K. after Southport, which was an attack that took place not that far away from what we saw today.
So the police are going to have to be very transparent about exactly who this individual was, what their motives were, and really get to the nub, if
you like, of the issues of what motivated him to carry out this attack.
QUEST: Accepting that the old IRA line, you know, you have to be lucky every time, we only have to be lucky once, which I always think of, by the
way, with these sort of things. But accepting that and putting that on one side, can we have these sort of events safely in with an acceptable degree
of risk?
GEDDES: Well, you know, you're absolutely right, Richard. You know, there is no such thing as a hundred percent security. You can never assure the
general public of that. But you what you can do is you can contribute a number of different factors and people within my world, within the security
world and counterterrorism will be always addressing and trying to think ahead like a chess game of what the enemy is going to try next.
And you're going to be looking at certainly one of the most common platforms, a vehicle being used. And whatever measures could be introduced
and integrated into a city or into a location where these festivities may be held to ensure that they are safe.
Now, I don't think that's too difficult. If you have a member of the public walking it, that's one thing. A vehicle of that size, another matter.
QUEST: Well I am grateful. Thank you, sir. Grateful for you for joining us. Will Geddes joining us from London tonight, and Will was referring to that
incident in Southport that Anna Stewart was talking earlier about the significance of it.
Just looking online, just to put this into context, the Southport incident is roughly only about 20 to 25 miles away from where this happened. So you
will begin to understand the sensibilities between the two, and we will explain more about this as the coverage continues, and certainly what we
are now waiting for, of course, is the all-important information of just on casualties.
[16:20:10]
Let's turn our attention to Ukraine for the moment. President Trump is accusing Russia's Vladimir Putin of going, in his words, absolutely crazy
after Moscow's forces bombarded Ukraine with their largest aerial assault of the war, 29 people have been killed over three days. The remarks from
Mr. Trump come at a crucial moment as our correspondent, Nic Robertson reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I don't like what Putin is doing, not even a little bit. He is killing people and
something happened to this guy and I don't like it.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: (voice over): Outrage from the U.S. President on a weekend had begun with hope. Russia and
Ukraine's largest prisoner exchange so far on Friday had hinted possible progress towards his peace initiative.
Instead, President Vladimir Putin launched Russia's biggest sustained air assault on Ukraine yet, 13 killed by Saturday; 12 dead the next night,
during Russia's largest air attack yet, 367 drones and missiles, prompting Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to issue this warning, saying "The
world may go on vacation, but the war continues despite weekends and weekdays. This cannot be ignored. America's silence and the silence of
others in the world only encourages Putin."
Trump responded Sunday, as he often does, putting Zelenskyy down but also aiming rare criticism at Putin, calling him crazy.
TRUMP: I am not happy with what Putin is doing. He is killing a lot of people and I don't know what the hell happened to Putin. I've known him a
long time. I've always gotten along with him, but he is sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don't like it at all.
ROBERTSON (voice over): Putin's response Sunday night, 355 drones killing four people, the largest ever Russian drone attack since their illegal,
unprovoked, full scale invasion began 39 months ago Ukraine says.
The Kremlin spokesman saying "Putin is making the decisions that are necessary to ensure the security of our country in a situation with
emotional overload," a jab at Trump.
In Ukraine, as rescuers crunch through bomb blasted glass, fear is everywhere. "My grandparents are in there," a woman screams, another
shouting, "My mom and dad are still in there."
As Putin buys time for war, trading barbs with Trump, his bombs are tearing into the people Trump says he wants to protect.
Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: So much has been made of this diplomatic back and forth and the sort of comments that we are hearing, whilst we must never lose sight of the
suffering on the ground.
With me now, Kira Rudik, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament who joins me from Kyiv.
I suppose there is no -- there is never the wrong time to do the right thing and you must be at least feeling that the comments from President
Trump help. They don't stop the bombings and the drones, but at least they might suggest the U.S. is more aware of what you're suffering, whilst Putin
just continues to prosecute his war.
KIRA RUDIK, MEMBER OF THE UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT: Hello, Richard, and thank you so much for having me.
With all due respect, we don't think that the United States do not know what is happening, what Putin is conducting and what Russia is doing by
attacking our cities every single day and night.
But these comments are indeed showing some promise. However, we learned not to trust words, but to trust actions. So the next thing that we are
expecting from President Trump is to deliver on his promise of peace through strength and that would mean sanctions for Russia and military
assistance for Ukraine.
QUEST: To be clear, you're still -- you and your -- the Parliament and the government is still prepared to go along with the 30-day ceasefire,
providing, of course, Russia is prepared to do the same and that seems to be the stopping -- the problem.
RUDIK: Absolutely. You see, Richard, we have done everything by the book. Whatever President Trump was asking of us, we have done, we have agreed to
that no matter if we like it or not.
[16:25:06]
Thirty-day ceasefire, we are ready. Signing the rare minerals deal and ratifying it in the Parliament, we went ahead. Then going to Istanbul and
proposing a meeting with Putin and negotiating with Russia, which President Zelenskyy promised not to do, we decided and he went ahead, and he has done
it.
So there is no way of saying that Ukraine is on the path of the peace. No, it is unfortunate that we have to prove to the democratic world that the
issue is with the aggressor and that Moscow is responsible for the war, but if we need to do it, we go ahead and do it. And so right now, again, the
issue is in Moscow, but the ball is in President Trump's court right now.
QUEST: How does that make you feel?
RUDIK: Honestly, Richard, for the last three days, I had maybe seven hours of sleep total because we were sitting under the stairs during the bomb
attacks and then your regular days come in and you have all the responsibilities and it is frustrating, it is painful. And I think the most
painful is to answer those questions when they are coming from the battlefield, from people who are fighting, who are asking what is going on?
Like, what else do we need to do to show to the world that we deserve support, that we deserve an ability to survive? Like what -- where did we
go wrong? Like, what else should we be doing?
And it is very hard because sometimes I am out of words.
QUEST: I mean, that is really the point that I've noticed. It doesn't seem to matter what Ukraine does. You're still at the whim of the man in the
White House who seems to have a somewhat bizarre affection for the man in the Kremlin, and does not seem to want to, even in the face of the most
overriding evidence of atrocity and the willingness to prosecute a war does not seem to want to take the necessary sanctions.
If that is the scenario, I don't know what you'd do. What do you do?
RUDIK: The answer is very simple. We did not capitulate in 2022 when the situation was much worse for us, and we do not intend to capitulate right
now. We will continue fighting, and we hope. We really hope that we are not alone this time, that we have our European allies with us who will be able
to support where the United States may drop the ball.
QUEST: Kira, sorry, I just wanted to interrupt. Forgive me, but I just wanted to clarify -- to get your thoughts. Do you now believe -- I mean,
obviously in Romania, the President as he is now, Dan winning, that obviously was a support because he obviously strongly supports further aid
to Ukraine. Do you believe in Europe itself, in the E.U., Viktor Orban and maybe one or two others are pretty much isolated now.
RUDIK: Do we have other choice? We may have our opinions, but most of all and most of leaders of European countries understand the threat. And, you
know, it is very weird because the closer the country is to the borders with Russia, the more they understand the threat. And we are here to stop
Russia, we just need a little bit of help.
QUEST: I am grateful. I am grateful you spoke to us tonight. And I would say you know, get as much sleep as you can, but unfortunately, the hours
are dreadful, and the news is worse, but thank you for taking the time in what must be very difficult days to come and to talk to me tonight. I am
grateful to you. Thank you.
RUDIK: Thank you.
QUEST: We turn to our -- return to our main story after the break. The car that ran into the crowd at the Liverpool Club's victory parade. We need to
analyze more what's been happening with that after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:32:09]
QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. I'll update you on what's happening in Liverpool in a moment. But there are other stories that I must bring to
your attention during the course of the hour.
The headline, of course, we are following it. The police say they have arrested a man after hitting a car -- crowd during the Liverpool Football
Club's victory parade. The first arrest is 53-year old man from the area. The British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said it seems appalling. His
thoughts are with those injured or affected.
President Trump's calling out Vladimir Putin after Russia's weekend Air Assault on Ukraine. Mr. Trump says that President Putin had gone absolutely
crazy. Moscow gave its response calling the U.S. President's remarks an emotional reaction.
King Charles is now in Canada. It's the king's first visit to the country as head of state. He's planning to attend the State Opening of Parliament
on Tuesday, where he will deliver remarks.
This is being seen as a two day trip as a show of support following frayed relations between Ottawa and Washington. The Canada, of course, remains
part of one of the British Commonwealth and the realm of the king.
The French President Emmanuel Macron has dismissed a video that's gone viral. Take a look. It appears to show, as you'll see in a second, it
appears to show his wife, or she's pushing him out of the way as they deflect disembarking from the plane in Vietnam.
Mr. Macron looks surprised at the jester, he quickly regains his composure and waves the media outside. According to the Elysee Palace, they were just
teasing each other.
Then we return to the main story of the evening. The police say a 53-year old man has been detained after a car that he was driving hit a crowd
during the Liverpool club victory parade. Max Foster is with me. We're expecting about an hour we're going to get an update from Merseyside
police. We still don't know, unless you've heard in the last few moments, any numbers on dead or injured.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: No, we're about to get some details on that. The North West ambulance service that covers that area has just
announced that they've cleared the scene following the incident, and they will be updating on casualty numbers.
Actually, at the press conference you just mentioned there, we're about to get details on that. But does appear the rescue operation now is clearly
over, and now it's a question of what exactly happened here.
A huge amount of speculation online, as there always are in these incidents, Richard, and this is something that's really concerning the
police, they are literally making calls out. Do not speculate about what happened here. Stop sharing the video, and please share the videos with us,
because we need the evidence to get to figure out what's happened here. A very unusual move.
Tonight, Richard, I think you may have noticed as well how the police actually, at a very early stage for the British police, pointed out this
was a 53-year old white British man.
[16:35:11]
So, pointing out the ethnicity, nationality of the person that they have detained, not even charged yet, very unusual, but that is an attempt to
sort of address many of the conspiracy theories and speculation that they saw online. They're trying to get there early. We've seen how recent cases
in the U.K. have ended up in, you know, with mobs of demonstrators who believe conspiracy theories have bubbled up in the early days of an
investigation. They're trying to address that.
So, that is what the police are dealing with at the moment. The Prime Minister has been briefed and is continuing to be briefed. So, it's clearly
very serious.
QUEST: I was trying to work out just looking online, where on the route of this, because this was a long -- this was a long parade, and we -- I can't
quite fathom exactly where Water -- I mean, I know Water Street, but where it was from the beginning or the end of the parade.
FOSTER: Well, all we know while all the football club has said, as this happened towards the end of the parade, exactly where the parade route was
at that point. I don't know, but certainly, if you look at some of the images that we're seeing, there were thousands of people surrounding this
area now, swamped, of course, by the emergency services, and people are absolutely baffled about how a car even got there in the first place.
I've been speaking to law enforcement, retired law enforcement people in there, they're pretty baffled too about how this car even got into the
space of a major European event.
We knew it was coming. This is one of the most high profile football clubs in the world. They've got fans all over the world, and everyone was
watching it. They just can't work out how this car got in there. So that's why we're waiting for this press conference.
QUEST: In fact, I'm just looking at that route now. I have just called up a map of it, Max, and I can see exactly now. It is very starts over and the
far point goes right the way around the city and then finishes at Water Street, or just by towards the end of that. Thank you, Max. Max foster.
Joining me Dal Babu is the former chief superintendent at the London Met Police with me now.
Well, I mean, it's every nightmare, in a sense, obviously. And the questions are all the usual ones that we ask in these situations. How does
a vehicle manage to penetrate a parade route when we know that this is one of the biggest risks?
DAL BABU, FORMER CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT, LONDON METROPOLITAN POLICE: Yes, so, I think what you'll have is the police would have planned this months ago,
years ahead, they've had events like this, Liverpool and enormously successful club, so they're used to providing cups, whether it's the
European Cup or Premiership or FA Cup. So, they've had lots of practice, the Merseyside Police.
I think it's probably just interesting to mention that this weekend has been a huge weekend for football as it comes to the end of the season.
London has had Crystal Palace parade and the FA Cup Liverpool Arsenal have had the European Cup created by their women's team. Have just come back,
beaten Barcelona. I, in fact, was at Wembley, at watching my team Walsall there play there.
So, there's been huge amounts of football in in the country, and now there'll be a couple of issues here. One is how a car came into the scene.
Now, these events are normally peaceful. Fans will be a bit boisterous. There'll be huge numbers, half of them three-quarters of a million.
There'll be a long, winding route. But they're normally -- they're normally off one team, so you don't have the kind of tension and fighting that you
get through different teams sometimes.
There would be times, because it's such a long route, where the parade -- the perimeter of the parade would be flexible, so vehicles, local people,
will be let in and out.
So, it may well be that there are areas where vehicles can get in, but in all the years of policing, 30 years of policing, I've never known an
incident like this in any of the parades that I've been involved in, because you just unexpectedly -- it's a joyous occasion.
QUEST: Right. Now, do we realistically need to keep -- still keep as a realistic possibility that this was an accident?
BABU: I think it's really, really important not to speculate. And I think what the police have done, and this is unprecedented. I've never known this
before, an incident that is still very, very fresh. They have released the age, the ethnicity and the nationality.
And it's the same police force that dealt with the Southport incident where three girls were murdered. And the speculation on X and by the far right,
which is similar to the speculation that there was by the far right on X, was that this was a Islamist attack in the Southport where three girls were
murdered, as it happened, by a British person. The speculation was that this was an asylum seeker who just arrived on a boat and was from Islamic
background.
[16:40:19]
So, the police didn't release that information, and that led to widespread rioting across the country last year. So, the same force, the 43 different
forces, Merseyside dealt with that incident and this incident, and in an unprecedented way gave those details about the service that was involved in
this.
QUEST: So, Merseyside is an extremely -- it's a large force, and it's an extremely experienced force and has dealt with over the decades everything
you can possibly imagine, hasn't it? So, it's not like it's a sort of a rookie when it comes to dealing with these major incidents.
BABU: Yes, it's a big force. You know, it's in a metropolitan area. It's got two massive clubs, Liverpool and Everton. So they're dealing with
public order events on a regular basis.
In addition to that, they -- it's a -- Liverpool is a party town. You know, people there are huge numbers of people arriving there. So they'll be very,
very experienced in dealing with these issues.
QUEST: What would you expect, if you will, I know the U.K. doesn't have a national force, per se, but the Met and the various divisions of the Met is
often considered to be, if you will, the sustaining force when it comes to terrorism, counter terrorism, any form of those sort of activities. What
would you expect the Mets' role to be?
BABU: Yes. Well, the terrorism isn't -- you're right, the Mets are leads on it, but it's regionalized. So there'll be a terrorism command in the north,
in the north west, north east, Midlands and south.
So, although the Met leads on it, you do actually have regional terrorism commands. So, what you would have, and this is why, you know, it's very,
very difficult to talk about these things without speculating. But the -- all those -- there'll be nothing off the table, you know, is this a medical
emergency? Is this a mental health issue? Is this a terrorism issue? Is this a grudge issue?
So, all of those things that the police will be extremely open minded, and what they will probably say in the press conference is, look, we've
released more information than we ever do at this stage. I.e. this is a white British man who's in his 50s. It's unprecedented to release that kind
of information.
They would now be doing a huge amount of research on this individual and his associates, and that will then determine in what area they need to
continue. They won't give a public commentary on that, and you wouldn't expect them to other than there's a live investigation. They'd have
resources from other forces available to them, so I'm sure they all the local forces would have offered up resources, because with so many police
officers tied up in this instant. You know, your day to day 999 calls still need (INAUDIBLE).
QUEST: One of the thought does occur to me, in the United States, they're very keen on trotting out the mayor in any major incident like this, it
will be the mayor who will stand there and do this. Now that's not the same in the U.K., but at some point, one would expect to hear from the Home
Secretary, and one would expect to hear from the politicians. But that dividing line between politician and police, how will it be managed in this
case?
BABU: Well, I think we've got a very, very measured Home Secretary. We've not always had that, but we do have a very measured Home Secretary.
The Prime Minister was in charge of the CPS, so he's a lawyer. He understands how these systems work, and I think that helps this situation
very significantly, because what we will have is a calm voice. We'll have a measured voice, and people will have trust and respect in what both sir
Keir Starmer, our prime minister, and Yvette Cooper, our Home Secretary will be saying, there will also, as you pointed out, the local MPs and
local mayorals, and I'm sure they there will be an opportunity for them to speak.
But you know, this is very much an operational matter. What the police may want the politicians to say is, please don't speculate. Please don't share
those videos. If you need to share, then, send them to us.
I mean, I always get -- it always troubles me when people start sharing these videos, because I just think there's a lack of common sense,
humanity, compassion, because you're sharing these videos.
Now, the loved ones of some of these people may not be aware that their loved ones have been hurt or struck by a vehicle, and I think it's so
important that people don't share them, because it will only add to the distress of people, and it'd be awful for people to find out that their
loved ones are hurt via social media.
[16:45:07]
QUEST: Former Chief Superintendent Dal Babu, I'm very grateful, sir, thank you for putting it in a calm and measured way yourself, as I would have
expected. I'm grateful for bringing us up to date. Thank you, sir.
Now we have a talk. We'll stay with a criminal activity, but this is -- well, this is quite extraordinary. We'll go into the details.
The crypto investor in New York who's arrested on charge of assault and kidnapping, what he did or accused of doing, accused of holding another man
captive and then torturing him to reveal the password to a Bitcoin wallet. You couldn't write and make this up. And if he did, I'm not sure anyone
would necessarily think it could happen. These are allegations. After the break, we'll discuss what they are.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: New York authorities say a crypto investor is facing multiple charges, which include kidnapping and assault. It's John Woeltz who was
arrested on Friday after allegedly locking up and torturing another man for weeks in a bid to get his Bitcoin password -- the man's Bitcoin password.
The prosecutors say the victim managed to escape after agreeing to give up his password, which was stored on his laptop in another room. Gloria
Pazmino is in New York.
And, you know. Well, what can one say? But the facts are horrific in terms of the way this man was tortured. Give us the details as best you can.
GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Richard, the details are disturbing, and frankly, it's a bizarre sort of scene once you put it all
together.
In fact, this is the most recent in a string of attacks that we have seen in recent weeks that have targeted cryptocurrency people. We saw the
kidnapping attempt in Paris, so people who are in the cryptocurrency investors appear to have been targeted.
Now, here's what we know about this instance, this man, John Woeltz, who is being accused of luring a man from Italy who arrived here in New York City
on May 6th and was kept inside that Manhattan apartment for several days being tortured, being asked, being told that if he did not give up his
Bitcoin password, him and his family would be killed.
Now, this went on for several days. Prosecutors say that inside that house you're looking at there, there was wire that was used to tie up the victim.
They found weapons. They found a Polaroid photos showing the victim tied to a chair with a gun being pointed to his head. They also said that the
victim, at one point, was tased with a taser gun.
[16:50:22]
Now, this went on for several days, and at one point, last Friday, the victim actually thought that he was going to be shot and killed. He finally
gave up his password, and during that brief period of time when the suspect went into the computer, the victim was able to run out of the apartment,
flag down a traffic cop and get some help. That's when police moved in, arrested the suspect and were able to get some help for this victim.
QUEST: Am I right, or have I read this wrong, that the actual alleged -- the alleged assailant was actually a wealthy person in his own right,
according to some things I've read.
PAZMINO: Correct.
QUEST: I mean, this wasn't like -- tell me more on that.
PAZMINO: Yes, and that's actually one of the big questions. We do know that they were both cryptocurrency investors, but what we do not know is how
they were known to each other, if they had a business relationship, a personal relationship, but it does appear that these two people might have
known of each other somehow, some way.
Again, the victim came all the way to New York City from Italy, this man that was arrested, John Woeltz, who you're seeing on camera now also a
wealthy cryptocurrency investor.
In fact, when he was arrested, the prosecution asked the judge to hold him without bail because they believed he had the means to get out of the city,
including owning a private helicopter and a private jet, as well as having the wealth to be able to make a getaway.
Now we also have some new information, Richard, there's two other people believed to have been involved in this incident, including a woman who was
briefly detained but has not been charged yet while the investigation is still ongoing. And we just learned in the last few hours that another man,
a second man believed to be involved in this incident, is expected to turn himself over to police in the next several days.
QUEST: Lots there for us to continue to look at and you'll be following the case closely. I'm grateful, Gloria. Thank you.
This extraordinary case comes on the heels of a string of kidnapping attempts of influential crypto traders in France, at least three high
profile incidents this year, kidnappings in January and where two people had their finger cut off. Another in May, when a kidnapping was attempted
in broad daylight that ultimately failed.
Ari Redbord is the Global Head of Policy at TRM Labs, who joins me from Washington. Are there more of these events, and if there are, what's the
crypto connection if there is?
ARI REDBORD, GLOBAL HEAD OF POLICY, TRM LABS: Richard, yes, thank you for having me on what is a really harrowing day and this topic in particular.
You know, we're seeing there are more and more of these, and there's been a spate of them, as you explained throughout that reporting and really bad
actors are targeting cryptocurrency investors because there's this perception, and in many cases, it's true, that is where the money is.
And we've seen this really disturbing convergence between cybercrime, which moves very, very quickly, and old school robberies and the use of brutal
force in order to get access to cryptocurrency wallets.
And we may see more of this as we see copycat cases over the ones that you mentioned in Paris and this really disturbing one in New York.
QUEST: Why? Why is this? I mean, one level we believe -- you know, we know that if you lose a wallet password, you're done for. But at the other side,
we also know that the U.S. Treasury announced that, you know, it's forfeitured and seized tens of thousands of Bitcoins. So, are is crypto
easier in a sense, as a kidnapping ransom demand?
REDBORD: It's a really great question, and that's the paradox. Crypto allows cross border value transfer of the speed -- at the speed of the
internet, bad actors can move funds faster and in larger amounts than ever before, and that's why they're moving quickly in these types of cases, to
try to get that those passwords and move the funds.
But at the same time, to your point, law enforcement can use tools like TRM to track and trace those funds, and we've seen some successes. The biggest
one was the Coinbase compliance team worked with FBI and law enforcement to actually trace funds and get arrests in what was the largest crypto
sentencing recently, 47 years in one of these types of cases, absolutely can be done, but we're seeing more and more of these types of violent crime
cases.
QUEST: So, this is worth just discussing finally at the end. So, this idea that once you, you know, the anonymity of the wallet holder's identity, you
can do the transaction if it's gone through a legitimate marketplace or an exchange, but you're saying that there are ways in which authorities can to
use the famous line, follow the money.
[16:55:23]
REDBORD: That's exactly what they're doing in these cases. And it's just like in sort of old school financial crime investigations, they're tracking
and tracing the flow of funds on block chains, which are open public ledgers. Every transaction is logged and immutable. You can see it forever.
And we're seeing law enforcement in these cases, in these very cases, track and trace the flow of funds to make arrests.
The problem is these bad actors can now move funds faster and in larger amounts using crypto, and that's the paradox. There's also this perception
that crypto founders, crypto investors are sitting large stashes of funds. These are oftentimes very public individuals who are out there, speaking
and on social media, and they're becoming targets for criminals, and that's what these are. They're just criminal gangs who are looking to go where the
money is, to steal large amounts.
QUEST: Good old fashioned thugs using a different currency, but at the end of the day, just the same as a robber with a cosh hitting somebody over
there.
Thank you, sir. I'm grateful to you. Very kind. Thank you.
REDBORD: Thank you.
QUEST: Now, as you and I continue our evening discussion, a viral video that shows President Macron, how do you think shoved by his wife? There he
goes. What was going on? I'll tell you whatever I can in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Now, Russian trolls are targeting Emmanuel Macron, yet again, after a video showed the first lady of France, Brigitte Macron, pressing against
her husband's face, it went viral. Saskya Vandoorne is in Paris.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: This short video of President Macron and his wife Brigitte, pushing his face as they land in Vietnam is going
viral and has caught the attention of Russian trolls.
Later, Macron appears to offer his arm, but France's First Lady opts to hold the railing instead. The Elysee Palace initially denied anything
unusual had happened, calling it a moment of togetherness and playful teasing in a statement. Macron later told journalists he was surprised by
the attempt to twist the moment.
EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): There is a video now which opens we're in the middle of bickering and rather joking with my
wife, and I'm surprised by how this becomes a kind of geo planetary.
END
