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Terror Attacks in Mumbai

Aired November 27, 2008 - 16:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: You just heard Mike tell us about these control rooms that were set up, advanced control rooms inside the hotels. Also dead, the chief of the anti-terror squad of the Mumbai police. A well-orchestrated attack, a number of attacks, according to the prime minister of India.
Now, police say the attackers same from the sea, docking near the monument called Gateway to India. It's not known where they began, though the unknown group is calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen. It has claimed responsibility in e-mails to Indian media. And they hijacked cars, even a police van, and split up, targeting a popular cafe, a train station, then a hospital.

Two other groups hit the Taj and the Oberoi hotels all night and day. We've been hearing those breathtaking stories from the witnesses, the survivors and, of course, the authorities. And as the siege continues, so will the coverage that no other network can match. Only CNN has CNN-IBN, our sister network in India, for your source for all the breaking news from Mumbai.

We are going to be talking with our Sara Sidner in just a few minutes, joining us from the Taj Hotel, to find out an update on the apparent gunman that is still holed up with authorities there.

But first, Roger Clark, our head of international coverage here based in Atlanta.

Bring us up to date. Anything new that we need to know?

ROGER CLARK, DIRECTOR OF INTERNATIONAL COVERAGE: What's happened in the last hour which is really interesting is that the Indian cabinet minister, a guy called Kapil Sabal (ph), has said tonight that he believes that the terrorists had, and I quote, "control rooms inside these two hotels," and that they'd been working for several months in planning this attack.

Now, this attack was a very, very sophisticated attack. You've heard that from our correspondents around India during the course of the last 24, 25, 26 hours. A very sophisticated attack.

And when an Indian government minister comes out and says that they had control rooms in the hotels, that means there were control rooms in the hotels, the operation was being operated from inside the hotel, as well as from outside the hotel. So, this wasn't an attack just from the outside. It was an attack from the inside as well.

PHILLIPS: So was it an inside job? I mean, were these guys just able to infiltrate, or were there workers inside that hotel helping orchestrate these attacks? Do we know?

CLARK: Well, I think that will be a key plank of the investigation. At the moment, the police operation is very much on containing these scenes, on flushing out these gunmen.

I came off the telephone just because I came up here with Sara Sidner, and she's saying it's still too soon to say even at the Taj whether the whole operation is finished. There's still a lot of police at the hotels, police also at the Jewish center.

So the police operation at the moment is very much concentrated on getting these terrorists out, catching them, freeing people who may be being held hostage, and then they'll get into the investigation as to who was responsible for this, how they did it, why they did it. And I think the question you asked is a good one, were people on the inside responsible for this operation? Were people working at the hotel responsible? That will be something that the authorities will look at.

PHILLIPS: And our Nic Robertson on the way there to do the investigative side of things, right? What will he be looking into?

CLARK: Yes. In fact, funny enough, I was e-mailing Nic five minutes ago, and he's just about to step on the plane in London and fly out to Mumbai. Nic is an absolute expert on international terrorism, how it works, and he talks to me a lot about how it's all interconnected, these groups are all interconnected.

And he'll look at the police investigation is going, and not just the local investigation, but the international investigation, because, mark my words, this will be an international investigation. The Indian police will be drawing on the expertise of people like the FBI and form Scotland Yard in London and from Interpol. All the intelligence organizations will be working together on this one.

PHILLIPS: And the fact that westerners, Americans and also the Brits, were targeted and mentioned within these attacks, so it does raise it to an international level. If this was some sort of terrorist operation to influence the elections there in India or this ongoing fighting among extremist groups within India, it's going to go beyond that, because now there's a question as to whether al Qaeda could have been helping these extremists inside India. I mean, still so many questions on where this is coming from, why they did it, and why now.

CLARK: Yes. And also, I think, who knew what?

PHILLIPS: Right.

CLARK: I mean, was there any chatter in the intelligence community? Did any of the intelligence agencies around the world have any information at all that -- you know, about the attack?

This is an international investigation. That's absolutely clear. And as I said, MI6, FBI, Scotland Yard, they'll all be involved in this. It's an international investigation, and Nic Robertson is very, very good at sort of -- he's got very, very strong contacts around the world with international terrorism. And he'll be able to sort of look through all this and give us the very best information on how this investigation's going.

PHILLIPS: Roger Clark, thanks so much.

You mentioned Sara Sidner. She actually joins us now live in front of the Taj Hotel.

Sara, do you know anything about this remaining gunman? Is he still in this hotel? Have authorities been able to take him out of that hotel or take him down?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We do not know yet, but we can tell you that there is still a scene here, although it is a much quieter scene than what we have been seeing over the past few hours.

Over my left shoulder, obviously, you are seeing still the Taj lit up, as it has been all night long. We looked into the lobby. There are still several members of the military who are standing around en masse in the lobby, and who appear to be sort of guarding the door, and they are all throughout the lobby area.

And so basically right now, we haven't heard any of those blasts or gunshots that we've been hearing throughout the day, for the last couple of hours. But we also have not heard from police that everything is said and done and that everybody has been taken out, for example, or that that last gunman that we heard one of the authorities say was inside the hotel a couple of hours ago, whether or not they have captured that person or have killed that person. We do not know at this hour.

What we do know is that there is still a scene here, although it is not as active as it has been throughout the day. But still, they have it cordoned off. They are letting the media get a little bit closer, if that's an indicator of anything, or an indication of anything. But yet, it is quiet. And so we're not quite sure what to expect in the coming few minutes or even hours -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's hope that that's good news and that they have been able get that final gunman.

Sara, do you know if -- and forgive me, because I was reading things as well as trying to multitask and listen to you. Did you say that everybody has been evacuated from that hotel, or there are still people hiding out in their rooms? Have you been able to confirm that?

SIDNER: We have not been able to confirm that because what we have not seen are the scenes that you normally see when a hostage situation happens and maybe some of the hostages are let out, or maybe some of the people in the hotel who are not hostages, who have not been held hostage, necessarily, but have been holed up in their rooms with all of their lights out, whether they would come streaming out. We haven't seen that at all.

But we are standing in the front of the hotel. And this hotel is quite large. It takes up at least a couple of city blocks. And so there are other entrances and exits where some of these people may be coming out.

But at this point we really haven't seen a large number of people, though we still are not sure, because authorities have not given us the information as to how many people might be inside the hotel, either holed up in their rooms or being held hostage. So, at this point, we're really not sure.

But again, they said there were five hostage-takers. Five people in the hotel considered suspected terrorists. That was about three or four hours ago. Now authorities are dwindling that down now to one.

What that means for people who may have been taken hostage, what that means for the people in the hotel that may still be holed up in their rooms, it could be good news. And certainly if they capture this last person and deal with this last person who was involved in these attacks, then we'll probably start seeing the people streaming out, if there are, in fact, many people inside the hotel. But we just don't have numbers, and it's quite frustrating here on the ground trying to get any information from authorities -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, you're doing an incredible job.

Sara Sidner there, live for us in front of the Taj Hotel.

Thank you so much.

We're going to continue our breaking news coverage out of Mumbai, India, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: One of the biggest questions remaining, who is responsible for the attacks that took place in Mumbai, India, yesterday, about lunchtime, U.S. time? Now 30-plus hours later, there are still gunmen holed up in hotels, two hotels and one Jewish center, there in Mumbai. A hundred and twenty-five people reported dead, 300-plus people reported wounded.

Who is behind the attacks? Who's been helping within those attacks? Those are the questions we're trying to answer now.

Barbara Starr joining us live from the Pentagon.

Now Barbara, you were able to give us some insight to these terrorist groups within India, and you also brought up the issue of the al Qaeda factor and the possibility we still don't know that it could be involved as well.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: You know, Kyra, more than a day into this now, as you say, that's really perhaps the most disturbing thing for the U.S. counterterrorism, for the intelligence officials we've been talking to over these last many hours. They have no answers.

They have no answers for President Bush. They have no answers for President-elect Barack Obama. And they want answers. Was any single group really capable of carrying out such a sophisticated attack? The attacks that have been seen in India really have been somewhat internal, if you will. Groups linked to Pakistan, linked to the Kashmir question, but very much an Indian/Pakistan type of thing. Attacks mainly involving, very sadly, of course, Indian citizens.

Now the game has changed in this region. These are attacks against westerners, against businesses and places in India that do business with westerners. And that makes it a global issue.

This really becomes somewhat of a game changer. Intelligence services, militaries around the world, governments around the world, over this holiday weekend in the U.S., getting very involved in this, sharing what information they have, trying to determine who it was. But more importantly, as you just said, what help did they have, if any?

Who was behind them? Who had the money, the training, the organization, the ability to plan this and execute it with such precision and have it, very sadly, go off so well?

They held out for many, many hours, and this is going to be the major concern. People are going to want to know, because, let's face it, we all travel. We stay in hotels in our own country. We stay in hotels around the world. And unless people can really begin to understand the threat here, it's going to be very difficult to adjust to all of this and restore that sense of security -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And Barbara Starr, you bring up a good point, because a lot of people are wondering, OK, who -- these terrorists, where's the message directed to? Is it to Americans? Is it to the Brits? Is it to factions within India? Is it the Indian government? Because if you look at the scale of the attacks, and who was targeted, who was held hostage, it could be a combination of all of those.

STARR: Absolutely right. You know, that's -- you know, that is the key question. What was the motivation, what was the message they were trying to send? But as you say, what is the message that they wound up sending?

Who knows if they were really sending this message to the West, but that's the message that western governments are certainly receiving out of all of this, the very deliberate targeting potentially here of U.S., British, European, Israeli citizens. This is not something that has been seen really by al Qaeda or something that has been seen -- done by these groups that have operated in the region so far.

The attacks that have been seen in India over the last couple of years over the Kashmir question, this takes it to a different level. And that's what the Bush administration, and even the transition effort, has really been trying to communicate on the world stage. This is a global problem of terrorism. That countries have to start realizing, they will tell you, that terrorism isn't something in their own border. This is -- if it happens in one country, these days it does begin to affect the world. This is the message that the U.S. has been struggling with in that very tough region of the Afghan/Pakistan border, because there's so many multinational groups operating in that region.

We have seen attackers come out of there and go to Britain, go to Germany, go to Europe. These are threads now that operate globally around the world. And no attack really anymore these days exists in isolation. All of these attacks have very significant implications across national borders -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Barbara Starr, live from the Pentagon.

Barbara, thanks so much.

Let's go back overseas now to Mumbai, India. Mallika Kapur joining us on the phone. She is there at the Oberoi Hotel.

Mallika, can you confirm that there are still two gunmen holed up in that hotel?

MALLIKA KAPUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We believe that the standoff is still continuing and that there are indeed two gunmen still holed up inside the Oberoi Hotel.

I can't tell you how many hostages there are or how many residents of the hotel or employees of the hotel are still inside. We don't have that information, but we know that the standoff is continuing, and that members of the NSG, the National Security Guard which is a very elite commando squad in India, members of this group have been flown in from New Delhi, they are here in Mumbai, and they are the ones trying to engage with the two gunmen currently holed up inside the Oberoi -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And the National Security Guard, these are the commandos that we've been seeing in some of the videotape, right, Mallika? They have the combination of law enforcement and military experience, and they've been the ones conducting, clearing these buildings, trying to negotiate with these gunmen, going in there trying to save lives and clear out any threat that's remaining.

KAPUR: That's exactly correct. In fact, I had a conversation, a long conversation, with somebody who was evacuated, who was rescued from the Taj Hotel at about noon on Thursday. And he said he was full of praise for members of the NSG. And he said he was saved and rescued because of them.

He was holed up in his hotel room overnight, and this was the next morning, on Thursday, that somebody came into his room. It was a member of the -- of this squad who picked up a master key to all of the rooms in the hotel, and they came into the room.

They frisked this person. They questioned him thoroughly. Once they were convinced that he was in no way related or had any connections with the terrorists, they then escorted him out of the Taj, and to safety. So, yes, it is members of this unit that are actually combing through the hotel, floor by floor, trying to rescue any innocent people who might be trapped inside.

PHILLIPS: Mallika Kapur there, live from Mumbai, in front of the Oberoi Hotel.

Still two gunmen there in that hotel. You heard Mallika mention members of India's commando force there, the special forces, trying to clear that hotel, rescue anyone that could be remaining. Also trying to take out those two gunmen that are a threat to so many people there in that area.

Our breaking news coverage continues out of Mumbai. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, 30-plus hours into this rampage that struck Mumbai, India, about lunchtime yesterday here in the U.S. Since then, we've been able to record simultaneous attacks, about seven attacks, on two major hotels there in Mumbai, also a Jewish community center.

We can tell you gunmen still remain at two of those hotels, one Jewish community center, the Chabad House. The special Indian commandos on the scene trying to clear all three of those sites, trying to rescue remaining people, and trying to take down those gunmen. One hundred and twenty-five people dead, more than 300 injured at this point.

We've been able to bring you remarkable coverage thanks to our sister network, CNN-IBN, and be able to simulcast all across the world to bring you the updated information as this has all been going down there in Mumbai. So, right now, a timeline from CNN-IBN, from the beginning to where we are now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Visuals that will haunt Mumbai, perhaps forever. Mumbai's landmark, the Taj Hotel, in flames.

At 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday night, terrorists enter the 22-story hotel taking people hostage. Mumbai's anti-terrorist squad is dispatched to the hotel. Explosions are heard, sounds of gunfire.

At 2:00 a.m., six more explosions are heard from inside the hotel. A fire breaks out in the central dome of the hotel.

At 5:00 a.m., three terrorists are killed in a gun battle. Taj guests are evacuated. But the war is from over. Twenty-eight hours later, it's still continues.

(on camera): Within minutes of first gunfire, panic had struck completely in the entire southern Mumbai. Young, unidentified and heavily-armed men were suddenly popping across various locations in the city, from the (INAUDIBLE) railway station to five-star hotels, to the very popular Leopold Cafe in Calaba (ph). Eyewitness accounts collated by the intelligence agency's report suggest that these men made their way into the heart of the city through the (INAUDIBLE). (voice-over): The terrorists break into smaller groups. They walk towards the Taj, Oberoi, and the Leopold Cafe and open indiscriminate fire.

At 9:45 p.m., another group heads to the CST Station, platform number 7, and the reservation area. They start firing indiscriminately with AK-47s, stun guns and hand grenades.

By 10:30 p.m., some terrorists from the group attacking the CST Station move on towards the adjacent BMC (ph) headquarters.

By 10:40 p.m., the terrorists move toward the Kama (ph) hospital and open fire. (INAUDIBLE) senior police inspector (INAUDIBLE), a crack encounter specialist of the Mumbai police, follow the trail of the terrorists to the Kama (ph) hospital. They enter the hospital in a police car (ph), they get off and walk into the hospital, and unexpectedly comes face to face with heavily-armed terrorists who open fire, killing all the three police officers on the spot.

The terrorists then take over the police car and drive out of the Kama (ph) hospital heading towards the metro junction. That's when CNN-IBN video journalists captured these dramatic visuals of terrorists opening fire on media crews and people gathered at the metro junction, killing one person and injuring two.

The terrorists speed off towards the Oberoi, abandon the car behind the hotel, and take over (INAUDIBLE). They're gunned down by a police team (INAUDIBLE).

By daybreak, the focus of attention shifts to the three locations where terrorists reportedly take hostages, Taj and the Oberoi hotel, and the Nariman (ph) house. The central government constitutes emergency meetings. In Mumbai, the state government, too, goes into a crisis management mode.

Vera Rapor (ph) CNN-IBN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Breaking news on CNN continues right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: It's about 3:00 a.m. Friday in Mumbai right now. Relative quiet descends on the financial and entertainment capital of India more than a day after a well-planned series of terror attacks that took that city by storm.

Here's where things stand right now.

Police tell us that three gunmen are still holed up in two of Mumbai's best-known hotels, the Taj Mahal and the Oberoi. Those sites, along with a Jewish center, the Chabad Center, a cafe, train station and hospital all came under siege within minutes. And westerners may have been the targets, we're told. Plus, The Associated Press is reporting eight more hostages have gone free at that Jewish center, but several others are still being held, including the rabbi and his wife. Still, more may be trapped at the hotels as well.

Overall, Mumbai police say that 125 people are dead from gunshots, explosions or fires. More than 300 others are hurt. The dead include a dozen or so of the more than two dozen determined attackers who may have been plotting this rampage for months. We got word that there were actual control rooms, advanced control rooms, set up in those hotels, and reconnaissance that was done months prior to these attacks.

Also dead is the chief of the anti-terror squad of the Mumbai police.

Now, police say that the attackers came from sea, docking near the monument called the Gateway to India. It's not known where they began, though the unknown group is calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen, which has claimed responsibility in e-mails to Indian media.

Now, those (INAUDIBLE) hijacked cars, even a police van, and split up, targeting a popular cafe, a train station, then a hospital. Two other groups hit the Taj Mahal and the Oberoi hotels.

All night and day we've heard breathtaking stories from witnesses, survivors and authorities there. And as the siege continues, so will the coverage that no other network can match. Only CNN has CNN-IBN, our sister network in India, and your source for all the breaking news from Mumbai.

If you've never been to Mumbai, you don't know that area, here's a map of all the areas that were targeted, the main spots that were targeted. You see right there the Gateway of India Monument. That's that main port where there's dozens and dozens of fishermen that operate along those ports.

Apparently, these attackers came in high-speed boats with automatic weapons. You can see them.

Just on the other side of the Gateway of India Monument you've got the Chabad House. That's the Jewish prayer center that -- where the rabbi, his wife and others are still being held hostage by a gunman there.

Then if you look off above through the Gateway of India Monument, just past the ports, the Taj Mahal Hotel, apparently one gunman still there at bay with police. Cafe Leopold, that went under attack.

As you go a cross the other part there of the waterway, the hotel Oberoi, still, we're being told possibly two gunmen being held at bay there.

Then you can also see the Cama Hospital which was under attack, and also the train station that came under attack when these attackers came into Mumbai yesterday. A very orchestrated, well-planned-out attack, according to experts on this, in addition to the prime minister of India.

Who is responsible? Who is behind the attacks?

We're staying on this story. We're investigating it on all levels. Our Nic Robertson on the way.

Meanwhile, this does it for us here on CNN Domestic. We're going to turn it over to Becky Anderson, CNN International, right now.