[Kristie Lu Stout, Host, News Stream:] " It is one in the morning here in Christchurch. And later today, the Prime Minister of New Zealand will return to the city in mourning to meet with first responders and families of the victims as they prepare to lay their loved ones to rest. Fifty people were killed in the massacre on Friday when a gunman opened fire at two different mosques. Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister met with religious leaders in Parliament on Tuesday, giving embraces and offering a message of solidarity to the Muslim community. In an emotional speech, she urged the public to focus on the victims and vow to never utter the attacker's name.
[Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister, New Zealand:] He is a terrorist. He is a criminal. He is an extremist, but he will, when I speak, be nameless, and to others, I implore you, speak the names of those who were lost rather than the name of the man who took them. He may have sought notoriety, but we in New Zealand will give him nothing, not even his name.
[Lu Stout:] And joining me now is Azam Khan and Sahida Ali, two friends who were also at the two separate mosques when terror took hold. They are eyewitnesses to terror. They're survivors as well. Gentlemen, thank you for joining me and my condolences to you and to your community for what you've been forced to endure. Assam, on you were at the Al Noor mosque when the terror attack took place. What did you experience?
[Azam Khan, Survived Mosque Attack:] Well, I was the mosque at the time when the gunman came and he started shooting, and all of a sudden everybody started to run and in the process, I also ran towards my right and then everybody a lot of people fell down and I also fell in the process, you know and there was a lot of pile of people all on top of the other and the gunman started shooting everyone and then all of a sudden, everybody stood up and ran outside and not because not everybody was able to leave the mosque because some people was trapped by the door, so he came in and shot a lot of brothers, you know, while they were waiting to get out of the mosque.
[Lu Stout:] And Sahid, you were at the Lynwood mosque.
[Mohammed Sahid Ali, Survived The Mosque Attack:] Yes, we were already in the Lynwood mosque, already it's already after maybe three minutes later and the guy is shooting my best friend, it's the same place he already seat and that guy straight away die shooting in the head. And later already outside, shooting with three people die and inside shooting small kids, maybe five years old kids and fathers already sitting in those chairs straightaway die and I see inside and that guy, another of my friend already getting the gun and that guy already run away. Cops coming. There's a lot of help out for me and thanks, everybody is coming, a lot of people safe side is a lot of people is already in the hospital. And not found anybody they said, and I'm going already outside and I see already lot of people in the driveway already died. Two ladies and the driver already die.
[Lu Stout:] You witnessed so much senseless death. The murders of children, of friends. These are people you worshipped with in your mosques. It's been almost five days since the terror attacks, but you must still have traumatic memories, very vivid memories of what happened.
[Khan:] Yes, we do. You know, because we are a very close community, you know, we used to meet in the mosque on a daily basis, you know, and very good and very close friends. You know, and most of the time, they used to be in the mosque, whenever we go we used to find and we used to greet and hug each other. So it is very difficult now for us to move forward, but slowly we are, you know, we are. As a community, we are discussing and we are talking to each other. We console each other. We support each other you know and we grieve together, you know as a community. So this does help, you know, to move and yes, and the support we get is you know, there is a lot of support from the public and from the New Zealand community. You know, everyone is giving us that support so it helps us with the process you know.
[Lu Stout:] Sahid, how are you healing? How are you coping?
[Ali:] I am already everything is good and a lot of show a lot of people help out for Muslim people, outside countries people coming to help out for this and everybody is friendly and everybody is liking and I am stay here a long time. There is no anybody fighting this style and first time, I see these, people is killing here.
[Lu Stout:] And that was Azam Khan and Salid Ali, survivors of the mosque attacks. Two friends who were at two separate mosques when these attacks to place. Witnesses the terror and yet when I asked them the question, it's the question that we posed to many survivors here in Christchurch how would they react if they saw the suspect or the suspect's grandmother or mother? Their reaction was, that they would react with no hatred, they would react with compassion, because that is their belief system. Now, joining me now is CNN's Ivan Watson who is here in Christchurch closely following the story. And Ivan, there was an extraordinary moment earlier on Tuesday, it's already Wednesday here in Christchurch where the Prime Minister talked about the suspect. And she said, "He is an extremist, a terrorist, he'll be nameless."
[Ivan Watson, Senior International Correspondent, Cnn:] And a criminal and she doesn't want to say his name and wants to focus the attention on victims. Victims like Fareed Akhmed, whose wife was killed, he had to explain to his daughter about her mother's passing, and then said, "If I saw the suspect, I would hug him. If I saw his mother, I would hug him." And that is this message that we've been hearing here amid these flowers that love should conquer all. And we've seen the people coming up here and now it's Tuesday, it's been days since and they're still crying, as they lay their flowers and it was a Muslim community leader who made this very interesting point to me that it isn't just this tiny Muslim minority in New Zealand that makes up 1% of the population that has been traumatized. Take a listen.
[Aliya Danzeisen, Women's Organization Of Waikato Muslim Asssociation:] This is everybody in New Zealand, so there are over 4.5 million people impacted by this and it's not just the Muslims that are feeling, you know, hurt it's everybody and everybody is grieving here and from the Prime Minister down to young children in the schools who are aware of it, everybody has been impacted. And so, we're all in mourning.
[Watson:] And you're a high school teacher. So, let's just give you one example of that. The threat levels are still high here. The authorities say, they're concerned about the possibilities of some copycat acts of violence, so the police we see on the streets are carrying rifles. New Zealanders are not accustomed to their police being armed this way. This is part of how New Zealand, sadly, is catching up with the rest of the world. This new normal militarized police in response to atrocious acts of violence.
[Lu Stout:] Ivan Watson, we thank you for your reporting. The terror attacks that took place here in Christchurch on Friday, Javed, thank you very much indeed for joining us. My sympathies to you and your family. First, could you tell us about your cousin? Who was he and how will you remember him?
[Javed Dadabhai, Cousin Killed In Mosque Attack:] His name was Jinead Motella. He came from his family name is Motella so born and raised Canterbarian, so very, very proud to be from the city. He was father of three very young children. The youngest being one, the oldest is only five, still to start school. Birthday exactly is actually in a couple of weeks so, yes, quite to take. He is survived by a window who is going to take care of those three and a widowed mother who he has been the support for.
[Dadabhai:] He's been her guardian.
[Lu Stout:] He was a husband, a father, a cousin, a son, a brother as well. He had a twin brother.
[Dadabhai:] He has a twin brother. He has a twin brother. He has got an older brother and sister as well. So a fantastic family. They are all kind of rallying around each other. They're doing the best they can in these circumstances, but you know, it's obviously still a very trying time for them.
[Lu Stout:] Their trying time it's been five days since the terror attack. So the remains of your cousin has been returned to you and your family yet?
[Dadabhai:] No, unfortunately. We are hopeful soon because we're hearing of bodies obviously being having completed the process going through the coroners and reaching, I guess the community's hands because they're now going through the ablution stage. But it's early and it's kind of a luxury as to what number you know, your deceased is going to be between one and fifty.
[Lu Stout:] You're here to help with your family, but also with the wider Muslim community. You're here to help with the burials also.
[Dadabhai:] So I'm currently involved in the actual burial site. So just liaising with about a half a dozen individuals where we're trying to, I guess, manage what we foresee is going to be a very big event. We would never have in the past done this many burials in such a short time two or three years, you know, if it's a car accident or something of that nature, but nothing of this magnitude and also from the other point of the support that's coming down, the people that want to be involved, we envisage thousands to be there. And so just working with the ministry, working with the police to make sure that we can do everything to prepare for it and make sure it goes as easy and smoothly as possible.
[Lu Stout:] And the families, they want to see the return of the remains with their loved ones. So that they could say farewell, but also to prepare the body in accordance with Muslim tradition. What does that mean? What does that entail?
[Dadabhai:] I mean, as you may know, traditionally, the Muslim burial process is very quick. We endeavor to get the body to the families and then within the 24-hour space or you know, like over the next day or sometimes, two if there are circumstances, so this is very unusual, but at the same time you know, it's extenuating circumstances. We are quite aware of the difficulties that the police and the coroners face, and the resources being quite strict for them as well. But there is obviously within the community, a sense of urgency. They want to have it, they want to have the they will get back to them. And I think not just there's one aspect of the rituals but it ties into the fact that they probably cannot stop grieving properly until, until the bodies are in the ground. There's a sense of unfinished work to be done.
[Lu Stout:] And when the funerals take place, there will be a prayer. What is that prayer?
[Dadabhai:] Yes, in a general sense, it's a reminder to us that we all are going to be following this person. That we came into the world with nothing and we will be leaving this world with nothing. The Islamic practices that we are wrapped in a simple white cloth and that's it when we are lowered into the ground. There is nothing that goes on with us except for our good deeds and our bad deeds. So, you know it's every funeral is a reminder to each of us that we've all got to go through the same process.
[Lu Stout:] That's beautiful and also so deeply heartbreaking. Javed Dadabhai, thank you so much for joining us.
[Dadabhai:] Thank you.
[Lu Stout:] And just ahead, Prime Minister Jucinda Ardern is taking her call for gun control reform straight to New Zealand's Parliament and investigators find what they call clear similarities between the Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air crashes. Now, one aviation expert says Boeing could have done more to avoid this second disaster.