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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Hostages Standoff in Sydney; Officials on Sydney Hostage Standoff

Aired December 15, 2014 - 04:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Breaking right now: hostage standoff. A gunman takes over a coffee shop in Sydney, Australia, near the U.S. consulate. A flag of Arabic writing hangs in the window. New demands from the hostage taker. We have a live report in just moments.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Monday, December 15th. It is 4:00 a.m. here in the East.

We welcome all of our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world.

Our top story: hostage terror in Sydney, extending now into its tenth hour. An armed man holding an unknown number of hostages in a Lindt chocolate shop.

This is in the same complex as the United States consulate in Sydney. A spokesman says consulate personnel have been evacuated. All are accounted for. President Obama has been briefed on the situation.

It is unknown if any of these hostages are American. Those who were allowed to leave running frantically for their lives once they made it out.

CNN's Anna Coren joins us now live from near the scene.

Anna, you have been watching this unfold. Ten hours now. It is evening. This has been so dramatic. What are the developments now?

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, as you have reported five of the hostages have managed to get out. We don't know if they escaped on their own or if they were allowed out. We certainly know that police negotiators have been in contact with this gunman who walked into the Lindt coffee shop at 10:00 this morning.

It is now just 8:00 p.m. Sydney local time. There are hundreds of police within the vicinity who have cordoned off the blocks around Martin Place. This is where the coffee shop is located.

It is the heart of the CBD. This is the financial area. There are banks, the Reserve Bank of Australia. As you said, the U.S. consulate is based there as well. There's a TV network across the road from this coffee shop.

So, you'd have to presume that the gunman's motive was to get as much as attention as possible. But throughout the course of the day, those five hostages have managed to get away.

There are -- you know, all these ambulances parked behind me. They have come throughout the day. Obviously, on stand by in case the situation turns ugly. But according to police, they want this to be resolved peacefully.

We have however seen police snipers. They are in position and ready to go. But as I stress, police here want this to be resolved peacefully. They want these hostages to get out safely.

BERMAN: And as you said, Anna, it's unclear whether they were released or just simply escaped somehow, which is one of the mysteries. There are confusing aspects of this entire event, as it stands right now.

And, Anna, I do understand there are reports of now these demands from this hostage-taker, this apparently man who is seen through the window in the white shirt holding that gun.

COREN: Yes, very bizarre demands indeed. Initially when he took the people hostage early this morning, he got them to hold a sign against the glass, which was filmed, in Arabic saying that, you know, a message about God and Muhammad. Since then, we know that through some of the hostages, they contacted a number of media outlets, local media outlets. His demands are to speak to the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and as well have an ISIS flag brought to him. A very bizarre request indeed, perhaps an indication he hasn't necessarily thought this through.

But certainly to give you a bit of background, a bit of context as to the threats here in Australia, there have been numerous raids over the past few months of suspected terror cells. Australia heavily involved in the war on ISIS, along with the United States. We have troops helping the Iraqi forces, the Kurdish forces. There are fighter jets, train fighter jets involved in the air campaign. So, there have been threats made against Australia and certainly for those lone wolf attacks.

But intelligence officials, you know, foiling a number of attacks and arresting a number of suspects. They did not see this one coming.

ROMANS: Anna, we know -- it looks like in one picture he is wearing a backpack in that picture. Tell us what we know about what kinds of threats he is making against the people inside there. A gun? A bomb? What is he saying he is going to do, or what does he have that is holding them all there?

COREN: Information from authorities has been really limited. The reason being is they want to focus purely on this gunman. We know that he is armed. That is something they have confirmed. We

don't know if he just has guns, whether he has this backpack, whether it was filled with explosives or whether he has bombs.

Certainly, we heard from the prime minister today and from the police commissioner here in New South Wales as well calling on the public to be vigilant, calling on the public to notify authorities if they see anything suspicious.

And surely, certainly I should say, earlier the Sydney Opera House, that was evacuated because there was a suspicious parcel that was found. There was a bomb scare down there. And then there was concern and speculation that were other backpacks and bombs located around the city. That has not eventual -- the focus is purely here in Martin Place, which is in the heart of the city, but as I say, everyone very much on high alert.

BERMAN: I heard the prime minister and also officials from the New South Wales police telling people that, yes, this is an isolated incident. Isolated in the sense that now, as you say, the focus is on this coffee shop. They're not at this point investigating events elsewhere in the city.

And it is a strange event going on for ten hours. The police confirming they are in contact with this man holding these people hostage right now. And as they were in contact with him, as this event goes on, there are people calling radio stations and there are reports of posting messages on Twitter and social media, Anna.

COREN: Yes, certainly there are those messages being placed on social media. We have taken a decision not to report those messages purely because the police asked us not to.

The reason being is they don't want to give this gunman anymore publicity. We don't know if he is monitoring the coverage. Certainly, he is somebody who has thought out, you know, the target, where he wants to take these hostages. Obviously, being parked opposite a TV station, a prime location if you are wanting international attention.

Well, he's got it. There's a huge contingency of media where I am standing. We can't get any closer. Police won't let us get closer.

We were closer to the cafe several hours ago. We had a visual of the cafe. And then, the police decided to move us back due to security reasons. The reason being, they don't know if the gunman is going to start firing or he's going to let off explosives.

But certainly, this gunman, we don't know his name, we don't know his age, we don't know his nationality. We are still waiting for those details from police.

ROMANS: Anna, you mentioned authorities have been doing anti- terrorism sweeps in the recent days, in recent weeks. Give us a sense of what the Australian strategy has been in combating ISIS and keeping Australians from going to the battlefield in Iraq and Syria. It has been for many Americans, they would be surprised that the Australian rules have been very strict. It is a crime to leave Australia and go to that battlefield, am I right?

COREN: Yes, that's right. They have introduced laws to stop Australian citizens from joining that fight or traveling to Turkey or, you know, getting into the Iraq or Syria. But we need to remember that there are at least 100 Australian citizens who have joined ISIS in their war. They are currently fighting with ISIS in Iraq and Syria. And that's, you know, not taking into account the hundreds of other people back here who are supporting them.

So, that is extremely alarming to authorities. They have tried to combat that as you say with those laws recently introduced to stop those people from traveling abroad and to join these Islamic extremists. But they can't stop the people who are already there. And certainly, they have extended the intelligence gathering, they've been monitoring the chatter and hence the raids.

You know, many raids that have been taking place right up and down the east coast of Australia and in Brisbane and here in Sydney and also in Melbourne. There have been a number of people arrested and a number of attacks foiled. But certainly, I think why this is so alarming to Australians is there has never been anything quite like this on Australian home soil related to terror or related to this latest fight with ISIS.

BERMAN: No, in fact, we've been hearing from people all morning, that they have never seen anything like this before in Australia. Though as you say over the last several months, the posture there is one of being on alert for terror. The terror threat level has been raised to high, Anna.

COREN: Yes, absolutely. And that's because of Australia's involvement in this war on ISIS. You know, Australia was one of the first to join the United States in saying that we will fight these Islamic extremists.

And you will recall when ISIS put out, you know, that call to sympathizers, to supporters around the world, particularly those who live in these countries who have joined this fight against ISIS, they call on them to conduct the lone wolf attacks. And that is something that really has concerned not just people here in Australia, but obviously in Europe and in the United States. This is something that authorities are trying to stop and to foil.

You know, speaking to people here on the streets, they said that, you know, it's only a matter of time before something like this happened in Australia. And now, we have seen something related to the war against ISIS unfolding here. You know, just a block from where I'm standing.

BERMAN: Anna, you bring up excellent points here, because we saw in Canada with the raid by the one man in the parliament building there. We also saw in Canada with the police officer run down. There are now these so-called "lone wolf attacks" by people inspired by terror groups and may have had no contact with them, no direct contact otherwise.

So, people are looking at this event in Australia and saying, this isn't like many we have seen from organized terror groups -- hostage standoffs that go on this long, people escaping like this, being allowed to speak on the phone or on Twitter. That may not mean it isn't inspired by these calls we have heard over last several months to do what you can. Grab a rock. Grab a knife. We just don't know what drives people to do these things.

COREN: Yes, absolutely right, John. We don't know if he is operating, you know, with ISIS, in conjunction with ISIS. We certainly haven't heard from ISIS. And that's interesting from an organization that is so tech savvy onto social media. So, they have yet to claim him as one of their own.

But certainly as you say, he might be inspired. He might be a sympathizer, a supporter. He could be somebody who's just deranged and has decided to go on his path and gained all this attention.

Clearly, he walked in with a sign in Arabic and now, he is calling, you know, to somebody to bring him an ISIS flag. I mean, certainly bizarre demands to be making, but nonetheless, that is what he is doing. The siege is now entered its tenth hour. And, you know, as far as the police are concerned, they are prepared to go right into the night as long as this is resolved peacefully.

ROMANS: All right. Anna Coren for us this morning in Sydney. We'll let you get back to the scene to continue your reporting. Obviously, ten hours now this has been going on.

And reporters are trying to get what information they can about this story, notably the name of the gunman who still is yet to be identified.

The offices of 7News were evacuated when the crisis began. They are right down the street from this cafe. One reporter has been allowed to return to the newsroom. Listen to him speak about the situation as it unfolds.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS REASON, 7NEWS CORRESPONDENT: I'll start with what we can see of the gunman. He has been clearly identifiable through the last few hours as he paces his way back and forth in front of the four plate glass windows at Lindt Cafe. He's wearing a white shirt, a black cap. He's unshaven and he is carrying what appears to be a pump action shotgun. That gun often coming into the frame of the windows, often close and menacingly close to the hostages themselves.

Let's talk about them as well, Mel. We've counted so far about 15 different faces being forced up against the windows over these last eight or nine hours. Not the 50 that had been speculated earlier. I think that number is wildly inaccurate. We're talking about that number, 15 people. A combination of men and women and young people, but thankfully, no children involved as far as we can tell from our vantage point up here. Now, you can -- the gunman seems to be sort of rotating these people

through the positions on the windows. Their hands and faces up against the glass. One woman we counted was there for at least two hours, an extraordinary agonizing time for her having to stand on her feet for that long.

Some of them have got their heads in their hands like this as they are standing in the windows, Mel. Others look so visibly upset. One woman whose eyes were blood shot red. Obviously been crying her eyes out for some time. Who knows what is going through their minds these last few hours, but just a terrifying ordeal of them.

I've got to speculate here, but it would have been more terrifying just two hours ago when we saw that rush of escapees. You could see from up here, at this vantage point, the gunman got extremely agitated as he realized those five had got out. He started screaming orders at the people inside. The hostages remained behind, extremely agitated. We didn't see anything more than that.

We cannot swing our camera around from the position to show you those windows directly live, Mel. The police have been good enough for us to get up here. We're not going to interfere with their tactical operations by doing that. But just -- there is little detail about what can be seen at this time in this stage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Remarkable to see an empty newsroom. They had to evacuate.

BERMAN: They had to leave because of the situation. But he was able to go back and see with his own eyes the situation as it develops. Those at five hostages seemingly escape from that situation. The hostage-taker looking agitated.

ROMANS: Again, all of these developments unfolding in Sydney, as a gunman holds people hostages in a chocolate shop.

We are expecting a live news conference in just a few minutes. We're going to have the very latest from Sydney all morning. We're going to take you live to the news conference as soon as it happens.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Our breaking news this morning: a gunman is holding hostages in Sydney's central business district. The police there will not tell us how many are being held in the Lindt coffee shop. They say they don't want to release that information, because right now, letting the public to know would simply not be helpful.

We have seen five people escape this situation looking terrified as you can see right there. But they did manage to get away somehow.

The siege began more than ten hours ago at this point. This, the man happened to be, we have a witness who happened to be sitting outside the cafe when the drama all began.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was in the cafe getting a take away coffee and I sat outside the cafe to chat on the phone. In those few minutes I was on the phone, this unfolded. I don't know if the gunman was in there when I was in the cafe or in a minute or two afterwards. But either way, this unfolded very, very quickly at 9:35 or 9:40 this morning. Inside that cafe, there was not hint. People were sitting down chatting over coffee going about their normal business.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: There is not a great deal known about this hostage taker. Some people inside have been able to call out speaking to radio stations.

Sky News is reporting that he is making two demands, two demands that he let be known through some of these hostages who are speaking to the media. Also, it should be said the police say they are now in contact with the man. He is calling himself "the brother." His demands are he wants an ISIS flag delivered to him and he wants an opportunity to speak with the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

ROMANS: Earlier, an Australian radio host managed to communicate with the hostage taker, through some of the people he was holding.

All right. I'm told we have on the phone, security analyst Will Geddes. I want to go to him quickly and talk a little bit about this situation.

Obviously, Will, a difficult situation for authorities, because you have a lot of people in that cafe. They say it is contained to just that area. But the demands are so very odd from the hostage taker. Give us a sense of what you think is happening there.

WILL GEDDES, SECURITY ANALYST: (INAUDIBLE) incredibly volatile and precarious situation. And, in fact, it's probably going into a more delicate phase, which is a currently in Australia and particularly in Sydney, they are now going into the hours of darkness.

Now, the hostage taker has kept the hostages for about 12 hours. He's been there for a considerable amount of time. The hostages themselves are --

BERMAN: Will, I'm so sorry. I have to interrupt you right now. We're going to go live to a news conference on the ground. These are state officials of New South Wales explaining the situation there. Let's listen in.

MIKE BAIRD, NEW SOUTH WALES PREMIER: And my call goes out to the state to pray for them, to pray for their families. But tonight, the commissioner and I also had a conference call. We referenced confidence and support of the New South Wales. The commissioner and I thanked them for it. We are in this together.

At the same time, I had regular briefings as you would expect together with my senior ministers. We are absolutely 100 percent behind all of the actions that our police have taken and are doing this very difficult day.

For everyone in Sydney, tomorrow morning should proceed as usual and just a couple of quick comments I want to make about that. When you go about tomorrow morning or go about as you would, a couple of changes in the city. They will continue to be an exclusion zone around Martin Place. So, if you work in the exclusion zone, I'll ask you to work from home tomorrow. A map of the zone will be provided to the media and can be found on the government Web site, at newsouthwales.gov.au But again, look for the updates on that.

The transport network will operate largely as would you expect. But again, just to make sure check the transport New South Wales web site to get full details on your journey.

Ultimately, we are doing all we can in these difficult circumstances and we will get through it. I'll hand it across to the commissioner to make a few other comments.

ANDREW SCIPIONE, NEW SOUTH WALES POLICE COMMISSIONER: Thank you, Premier. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

Can I start by saying our plan and our only goal tonight and for as long as it takes, is to get those people that are currently caught in the building out of there safely. That is our number one priority and nothing will change. I'm sure there are many questions that you might have for us and I'm not going to necessarily be in a position to give you that information because I will not be going into the tactics or strategies that we are employing. Suffice to say that we have large numbers of police, they are in contact and we are working to resolve this just as quickly as we possibly can.

Having said that, I, too, want to thank the community, particularly those people who are in the city today. You acted in a way that made our job a lot easier than it could have been. For that, I thank you.

There is much work to be done and more for us to go over the coming hours I'm sure. But again, for those that have loved ones that may be caught up in this and for those in that particular building, rest assured, we are doing all we can to set you free. We will be looking after your safety as our number one priority.

I'm happy to go to questions. Thank you.

REPORTER: The lights in the cafe. Have you switched them off?

SCIPIONE: I'm not certainly in a position to talk through the tactics or what we're doing or where we are right at this stage, Janet. But certainly when the time is right, we can talk about those.

REPORTER: Has the demeanor of the man changed since the five hostages escaped this afternoon?

SCIPIONE: Well, look, again, what's happening inside those premises are things that will need to be resolved amongst our negotiators. We have the very best negotiators in the world on the job right now. So, at this stage, rather than second-guess or give them anything that might cause some grief for those people that are put in there, we're not in the position to talk any further about that either.

REPORTER: What do you know about the conditions of the hostages inside?

SCIPIONE: Well, I understand that no one has been injured. And for that, if that is true, we are grateful.

REPORTER: Those hostages that come out, what's happening to them? (INAUDIBLE) Have they been asked not to talk about that? (INAUDIBLE)

SCIPIONE: Look, certainly, they will be working with us to assist in making sure that we get a peaceful outcome in this particular event.

But the one thing I can say is if people are being contacted by hostages, particularly the media, we'd ask you put those people and ask them to ensure the man inside speaks to police, speak to trained negotiators. They are the people that can resolve this, that can help in this situation. And, certainly, they are available and would be looking to talk to the man that certainly has gotten control of that particular building right now.

REPORTER: Has he been known to police?

SCIPIONE: Beg your pardon?

REPORTER: Has he been known to police?

SCIPIONE: We won't go into the details about who is in there, how many are in there. We are not in the position to do that at the moment.

REPORTER: Do you know who is in there?

SCIPIONE: Certainly at this stage, we are putting that picture together. But at this stage, in terms of numbers, who they might be, we are not in liberty to go into that information.

REPORTER: Can you tell us the five people, were they escaped or were they released?

SCIPIONE: Again, they are out of the building. At this stage, rather than talk about how that happened, we are just pleased to see them out.

REPORTER: Do you have any idea or anything you can tell us about the motivation at this stage that (INAUDIBLE)

SCIPIONE: Look, again, at this stage, motive. There are many out there that would be surmising. In fact, there are many out there that are guessing.

And at this stage, we are not in the business of speculating, we are in the business of investigating. And so, we will continue this investigation. We'll get to the bottom of it. And at this stage, again, all I can assure you is we are doing absolutely all we can and we will do even more to guarantee the safe release of those people. REPORTER: How many police are getting involved in this operation?

SCIPIONE: It's too hard to say, Lucy. We've got so many that are involved now. We are certainly looking to increase those numbers in the coming days if this drags on. We're hopeful that we get an outcome, and, of course, that's where we're all praying for. Having said, we'll put as many police as we need to into in this operation, because it's just that important to us.

REPORTER: Can you tell us about the hostages that were taken to the hospital?

SCIPIONE: I understand that one hostage did go to hospital for a pre- existing condition and was treated for that. There was nothing that came from the event that caused that person to go to hospital.

REPORTER: And the information (INAUDIBLE)

SCIPIONE: Again, we won't be in the position to go into that. That's unfortunate. Look, I'd like to give you as much as I can, but that is all I can give you, because first and foremost, we're going to look after and make sure that we do nothing that could in any way jeopardize those in the building.

REPORTER: You addressed the hostages directly. So, you're acknowledging that they have surprising to the access to social media (INAUDIBLE)

SCIPIONE: There is no place on earth that doesn't have access to social media. We know that. And accordingly, our plans are built around that.

REPORTER: When you talk about contact with the hostage taker, do you mean direct contact (INAUDIBLE)?

SCIPIONE: So, again, the means by which we are communicating is something we'd rather keep close to our chest at the moment, at this stage, suffice to say. We have got contact with him.

REPORTER: There have been crowds of people who are sitting around and watching this today. Would you ask them not to come in tomorrow to look at this unfold?

SCIPIONE: Look, understandable, when there is not a lot of information, people don't know what's going on. Having said that, as I already said earlier, I want to praise Sydneysiders for what they have done today. They have been well responsible in the way they behaved in the face of what is a quite fearful situation. And clearly in behaving that way, it has made our job easier.

Now, I can only ask that continue. There's no reason for people being around that area for there is nothing to be seen. Again, if we can get that level of support tomorrow that we got today, we will be in a good place when it comes to managing crowds, already such gathering that you're talking about.

REPORTER: Have you cleared the Opera House and other buildings of any explosive devices?

SCIPIONE: We are only at this stage dealing with one location. We are not concerned at this stage about any other.