19/12/2016 The Papers

We'll be taking a look at tomorrow morning's papers in a moment.

A lorry attack, on a busy Christmas market in Berlin,

has killed at least nine people and left dozens injured.

Members of the public tended to victims, as police urged

Berliners to stay indoors until the all-clear could be given.

The authorities are treating it as a deliberate attack.

It went just past me, past my girlfriend.

I think it missed me by three metres and missed her by five metres.

It came into the entrance and hit the sides of the barriers,

A man who shot dead the Russian ambassador to Turkey has been

The killer urged the world to remember the Syrian

He'd been seen in the background as Ambassador Karlov

Moscow said the murder was an act of terrorism.

Let's take a look now at tomorrow's papers,

many of them lead with the events in Berlin.

With me are the broadcaster, Natalie Haynes, and Rob Merrick,

deputy political editor at the Independent.

'Massacre at the Market' is on the Metro front page.

The story of a fatal lorry crash, in central Berlin dominates

The Daily Mirror are calling it 'the Berlin Bloodbath'.

It's leading the Guardian front page,

which is reporting that nine people have died.

crashed into shoppers at a speed of 40 miles per hour.

The i confirm the lorry driver has been arrested,

and that a passenger on board died at the scene.

The Times report that the lorry belonged

the Daily Mail front page, showing the smashed windscreen

of the lorry covered in Christmas decorations.

We will start with the times. Christmas carnage in Berlin. Lorry

ploughed into market crowds, at least nine confirmed dead. Terror

attack suspected. This has been hallmarks of what we saw on Bastille

Day earlier this year. That was in Nice, in the south of France. The

story you have been talking about all evening, of course. It does not

seem to be any doubt it was a terrorist attack. We wait for the

inevitable claim of responsibility from Islamic State. I'm sure that

will come whether they orchestrated the attack or not. A couple of

striking beings in the Times coverage. -- things. The suspicion

is that the truck was hijacked. It belonged to a polished delivery

company. Contact with the driver was lost at four PM some time before the

incident, leading to speculation that it had been hijacked -- them

out. There was a quote that the driver wore a mask. As he ran off,

he tore off his mask, which we had not seen before. That is quite

interesting. If it is linked to Islamic State, and the indication

perhaps with the comparisons to Nice is that there may be the case, if

terrorism is proved to be responsible for this, actually

trying to disappear into the crowd is something that did not happen in

Nice. It may well have been because this man actually died in the front

of the scab, but having said that, so many Islamic State volunteers

have no problem in giving up their lives for their cause -- cab. That

is true. All we can assume is that this man for whatever reason,

whether his ideology or pragmatism preferred to try to make a run for

it, but obviously without success. There are two people we think were

in the cab of the track, and one of them was dead. There are various

sources saying it looks like it was a cause of the accident rather than

the police shooting through the cab window, for example. Obviously the

other men tried to make a run for it but was unsuccessful. He was

captured quite close to be seen, and one assumes the information he gives

the police will help their inquiries. The Guardian front page,

nine dead in building truck horror. Dozens hurt in accident. This was

not an accident, say witnesses. One arrested and another dead in the

lorry. Many Christmas markets in Germany. This is one of the biggest.

They have them all over northern Europe. The French say they will now

have tightened security and will increase the security presence at

their markets. I am wondering why there was no security at this market

given how big it is, and also given the history of violence and terror

attacks they have been in Germany in the last year. That is sure to be a

focus of the inquiry that will follow. There are about 60 in

Berlin, 60 Christmas markets. I read some of them do have security and

protection and bollards, which is bound to increase the focus on the

fact that this one in such essential and large place didn't. But it

boasts about its openness and that is part of the attraction, that you

won't have to get through any security. It won't look like or make

you think of the risk of a terror attack. You will enjoy it more if it

is apparently friendly. But whether that can continue after tonight's

events must be a question. The softest of targets, people simply

enjoying themselves and not necessarily looking out for the

possibility of certainly this kind of attack. Just coming completely

out of the blue. Christmas markets, your family are in Belgium. You like

Christmas market and go to them? Is this the kind of thing that would

put them off. I am afraid of cards anyway, which I don't think I have

told you. I am incredibly afraid of crowded places, which is why I don't

travel on the tube. I live my life alone, but I am already nervous

about all of those things. Your family in Bojan? They are more

mature in every regard than I am, even the ones younger than me --

Belgium. When I go there, I will go to a small Christmas market in

Bruges. I would struggle to go to the big one in Brussels. That would

be too many people, too much humans in a small place for my taste. The

front page of the Financial Times, truck driven into Christmas crowd

kills at least nine in Berlin. 50 have been injured. There is every

possibility this death toll could rise. It makes the comparison on the

front page, echoes of Nice ad sizzled market. One analyst was

suggesting to me the German security services, much smaller than in

Britain, and less able to pick up the little chatter the security

services might be able to pick up in this country -- in Christmas market.

And not as integrated as some of the others. I do not know about that.

There was a quote a few months ago from one of the terrorists in the

Belgian attack last year, who apparently said there would not come

to Britain because they believed the British security services and in

with intelligence was better, which may be of some small comfort to us

tonight. I could not speak about this situation in Germany. Looking

at the FT, what it does say is that Isis may not have orchestrated the

attack, even if they inspired the person who carried it out. But they

make the point that security officials have long warned that Isis

could smuggle operatives into Germany under the cover of the 1

million refugees who have poured into the country since the start of

2015. It is the third terror attack in Germany in a short while, and

there is bound to be a political fallout from this, certainly if

other terror attacks follow. Angela Merkel took a heavy kit for her

opendoor policy towards refugees. It was unpopular with some citizens.

She announced she would run for re-election next year -- heavy

hitter. One of their fees may be that there will be further attacks

that will damage her enter Canada -- fears. She is seemingly moving away

from the opendoor policy -- and her candidature. She's talking about

burning tobacco. There are fears her policy could have contributed to the

security situation worsening in Germany but also clearly worried she

will be kicked out of power. I'm sure that is how it will be

presented during the election campaign. I don't see how anyone

running against it would resist the temptation to say she was somehow

responsible for anything that has gone wrong in Germany in the last

four years. We will see if this episode has not been politicised by

that. I'm sure it will be during that campaign. I don't see how we

can not be. Massacre at the market, the front page of the Metro. Laurie

mows down at least nine Christmas shoppers. And the front page as

well, Russia's ambassador to Turkey has been shot, assassinated --

lorry. It looks on this front page as if the men in the suit would the

gun is somehow linked to the headline, but he is not. -- men in

the seat with the gun. He is linked to the attack in Ankara. Or are they

somehow linking the two and it is just a messy front-page? It could be

seen as confusing. They are probably right to bring together the two

stories because they are imported. When I left the office tonight, I

imagined we would be spending most of our time talking about the

assassination of the Russian ambassador, but it has been

overshadowed by what happened in Berlin. But it is probably right to

reflect both stories, because the assassination itself is a striking

event. It is perhaps not going to have the repercussions people

probably feared, because there are strong ties between Turkey and

Russia at the moment, but it looks like it was a lone person and no

reason to think it will lead to some sort of conflict between Russia and

Turkey. But a very significant story as well. Naturally, the problem is

you just can't... Unless you shut these markets down and have armed

security 24 hours a day around potentially soft targets, it only

takes one terrorist or one person intent on killing to get through all

of the security that any state may have. Yes, and you only have to

think how absolutely hateful it is to travel through an airport to know

the consequences of trying to make everything safe sometimes are so an

arrest that they actually destroy the pleasure in the thing you are

trying to do. So most of us put up with airport security because we

really want to get to the place we want to get to. But would you go to

a German market if you had to have your bags searched and if you had to

park two miles away and walk because it was concreted off at every stage?

The answer is probably lots of people would not. You have had

interviews with an eyewitness earlier this evening who said having

just been in this terrifying experience, she said they planned to

spend the rest of their weekend doing what they were going to do in

Berlin and staying there. Not everybody feels like that, of

course. Some people's anxiety is too great and they are put off, but

traditionally, in Europe, we have tried to create terrorist atrocities

with stoicism and courage, right back to when I was a small child,

not even able to walk, I think, when the IRA bombed near where I grew up.

I only ever remember Birmingham being stoic about it. I am certain

that Belgian has been stoic and I would be astonished if Berlin was

not. Donald Trump, President-elect. He put out a statement. This is the

official statement. Our hearts and prayers are with the loved ones of

the victims in today's attack in Berlin. Innocent civilians were

murdered in the street as they prepare to celebrate Christmas. It's

a state and other terrorists continue to slaughter Christians in

the community and places of worship as part of their global jihad. These

terrorists and their worldwide networks must be eradicated. He said

that on Twitter. That was the official statement. He then goes on

Twitter and says the attacks in Germany, Turkey and Switzerland, so

he has put the three together, show the civilised world must change

thinking. What does he mean by that, do you think? I can't claim to peer

into the soul of... The best guess is wrong. The statement itself is

extraordinary. The President-elect coming out immediately, it is OK for

us to speculate, but we don't know. There is no proof. Normally elected

politicians would not lead to the nearest microphone and scream

certainty where none exists. But most politicians are not Donald

Trump. The second part of the tweets... Who knows? The official

statement is quite alarming. He has already construed it as a

specifically religious conflict, and I would feel presumptuous suggesting

everybody in a marketplace in Berlin was Christian, would you? There have

been many and will be more terrorist attacks in coming years and

unfortunately Donald Trump will no doubt react in a similarly worrying

ways. In the Sun, Slain, this is the other tack today, there have been

three, one in Switzerland, Germany and this, terror at Christmas,

Putin's man executed just hours later, this is after truck bomb,

nine die in market truck attack, umm, so, Natalie, the Sun and the

other papers putting these stories together, evidential in not

necessarily linked, and want expert I spoke with set, look, do not

discount the power of coincidence, it could simply be confidence, but

this man shouting Allah before he publicly shoots the Ambassador from

Russia -- Allahu Akbar. The papers haven't run with this today because

they have gone with him and with Germany. If ever there was an

example needed of how ordinary, innocent victims, especially those

in Aleppo, there you go. . He was an official policeman who used his

identity badge to get into the gallery. And while perhaps the aim,

given what he was shouting, was to try and distance Turkey from Russia

and Russian attacks in Syria, ironically it could bring the

countries closer together in terms of cooperation. You can see that,

can't you, strongman turning against the west and peace and president

Erdogan will seize on this to unite against terror. They have the

tension when Turkey shot down the Russian airliner and they came

together closer after that, so there is no reason to think this incident

would disturb the relationship I think. It is striking that the Sun

has gone with the assassin, rather than what happened in Germany, which

is closer to home and affected many people, and this appears to be a

terror at, as we said, and would resonate stronger with British

readers, but this picture is, it is just extraordinary, isn't it,

holding the gun, pointing it in the air, and it is quite incredible to

capture that moment. Indeed. What a day it has been, pretty horrible,

but it has been good to have you both into the studio. Thank you

both. That is it for The Papers. Coming up now, it is time for