hello, and welcome to a bbc news special with stephen sackur and lucy hockings. >> a dramatic siege is under way in the french town of dammartin just north of paris, where hundreds of armed police have cornered two brothers suspected of carrying out wednesday's deadly attack on a satirical magazine in paris. >> said and cherif kouachi are believed to be holding out in one building on this industrial estate. it's a print works. these live pictures from dammartin. reports suggest there's been contact with police and the

suspects have said they are ready for martyrdom. >> president francois hollande has been speaking in the last couple of hours. he revealed that france has been a target of terrorist plots for several months. >> translator: we knew that anything could happen at any time. as we stand here at the present time we should do everything to guarantee the protection of our citizens. a very warm welcome to our special coverage of dramatic events in dammartin. a small town north of paris, where hundreds of french police and special forces have converged on an industrial estate, where the two suspects in wednesday's attack on the satirical magazine "charlie hebdo" appear to be preparing to make their last stand.

>> cherif kouachi and said kouachi are believed to be holding one hostage inside the offices of a printing business. we're getting many reports from the scene that suggest police have been in contact with the two gunmen and they have expressed their readiness for martyrdom. >> now, the french president francois hollande is supervising a massive security operation from the interior ministry in paris. the interior minister bernard cazeneuve has vowed that the threat will be his word neutralized. and in another development, police now saying there is a connection between a suspect identified in the shooting of a policewoman in a southern suburb of paris yesterday and two brothers. >> let's take you live to the shot that you may already be familiar with. we've been seeing it all morning of dammartin. we know that hundreds of security personnel are there. the town is essentially in lockdown. residents have been giving us st. paul details of what it's like to be there at the moment. they've been approached by police, told to turn the lights

off inside and we're also hearing that many of the school children in the town have been bussed to other locations. >> there is one extraordinary story that's just come out of a french radio station. a man has called in. he's a salesman who works in that industrial zone and he has described how he believes he met the two gunmen this morning. he was very close to the print works. two men approached him. they were wearing black. they were armed. he assumed to start with they were policemen. but they told him to go away, we do not shoot civilians as they entered the print works. >> one of the luckiest people alive he must be thinking right now, stephen. it has been a dramatic day. a car chase as well just a few hours ago. with all the latest for us, here's richard lister. >> reporter: on a rain swept road on the outskirts of paris, the first indications that a major police operation was under way. one by one, the approach roads to the village of dammartin were blocked off. journalists were ordered to leave.

as several police helicopters hovered over the village, there were reports that at some stage, shots had been fired and hostages taken. though police would not verify that officially. the suspect, cherif kouachi, age 32, was a pizza delivery driver who had been detained in 2005 and jailed three years later for terrorism offenses. his brother said aged 34 had been involved in a prison escape plot and attended a radical mosque. the first confirmed sighting of the two men was nearvillers-cotteret yesterday. they were thought to have moved on to nearby longpont after stealing food and fuel from a petrol station. for several hours, longpont was flooded with armed officers beginning house to house, aware that the suspects they were hunting were ruthless and heavily armed. at some stage, the two brothers are thought to have stolen another car and driven to dammartin. the french interior minister bernard cazeneuve emerged from a meeting with the president and

prime minister this morning to say that yesterday's police operation had revealed important information and that all police in the area had been mobilized for the operation in dammartin. president hollywoodande said the threat was an international one and there had been recent attacks planned in recent months. >> i will not go into details, but there were plans for on operations and we knew that anything could happen. as we stand here at the present time, we should do everything to guarantee the protection of our citizens. >> reporter: the two suspects are believed to be holed up in this building owned by a printing company. it's completely surrounded by police and some reports say they've made contact with those inside. residents have been told to stay in their homes with the lights off. hundreds of children and their teachers are taking refuge in a local high school.

>> we want to know if they are okay or not. in the school, there are about 900 persons. we are really scared. >> reporter: two days after the murder of 12 people in the "charlie hebdo" attack, the hunt for the suspects appears to be nearing a resolution. richard lister, bbc news. >> so in this unfolding story, the focus right now is on dammartin where hundreds of armed police are surrounding that industrial estate but frankly, the whole of france is on alert right now. we believe between 80 and 90,000 police and security forces mobilized in a massive nationwide security operation. we can cross live now to paris, join christian frazier, who's been monitoring events in the french capital over the past few hours. christian, president holland made a point of going to the interior ministry to issue his statement. do you get the feeling that the french government feels that it is right now on top of this

unfolding story? >> i don't think they'd be bold enough to say that stephen, given that the third gunman is in the wind and a link being established between him and the two brothers holed up in dammartin. but certainly president hollande wants to look like the commander in chief and he's been striding across the road from the elysee palace, to the interior ministry, where he's been keeping up to date with events and fast-moving events as they happen. his interior minister bernard cazeneuve is also under a lot of pressure, because while they're calling for unity here in france, they're aware that if there were further attacks, then that would really undermine their position. and don't forget he is deeply unpopular, president hollande. perhaps the most unpopular president of the fifth republic and breathing down his neck is the front national who want to drive a wedge within french society and get more people coming over to their side. so it's crucially important

politically, the way that they handle the situation that's unfolding. an hour ago, president hollande did hold a press conference to speak directly to the french people. let's have a listen to what he had to say. >> translator: if france has decided to be part of coalition in iraq to fight terrorism, that's because outside france there are forces that want to annihilate the territories which they want to bring under their control and also to compromise our security. i've always said we did so so that this friendly country can find territorial integrity and also to protect ourselves against any aggression that can come from outside. but there are internal threats and domestic threats. they're not new.

>> so a president under pressure there, francois hollande. i want to come back to you, christian, and just keep us updated not just on what's happening in dammartin, but also the latest developments, what we're hearing from the police in the fallout from the shooting of the policewoman and her colleague in the south of paris on thursday. because it does seem now there's some sort of link that is being developed between that incident and the "charlie hebdo" massacre as well. >> that's right. they did round up around seven or eight suspects on wednesday night, people who were known to the two brothers and they've been pouring over their internet and telecommunications records to try to find out who their associates are. perhaps in the process of that they have now established a link with a man that carried out the shooting in montrouge yesterday. when i left the paris bureau this morning, they were saying that they'd identified that man. they pulled in two suspects from that area. 52-year-old man and another. and they had identified this gunman. but then bernard cazeneuve, when

he came on to the steps, he said that he was still at large. so you can imagine that while all the focus is in dammartin-en-goele here in the capital, things are still very tense indeed. yesterday they closed off all access points into the city. real pandemonium as they thought the brothers were coming back here. as i've driven around the city what i've noticed s there are a lot of police vans in strategic positions. they're slowing down the traffic. trying to slow things down in the city. if there was an incident then very quickly they'd be able to seal off a particular part of the city. so it's not just in dammartin. it is here in paris as well where the situation continues. and think ahead to sunday. thousands of people coming here to paris for an extraordinary republican rally in the city. ten of thousands expected. that is going to prove a real security headache. >> i want to follow up on that christian, because president hollande made a point of saying yes, we want to see people out on the streets expressing their

feelings, but he did also indicate that he was very aware of the security challenge that would represent. do you get the impression that the french government is beginning to worry about sunday and what might happen? >> reporter: well they should because they've had five terrorist incidents. maybe not as serious as the one at "charlie hebdo," but five serious incidents in little over a month. cars driven into shoppers in two cities and an attack on police and then the shooting in montrouge yesterday. so they're on the highest alert in france and they dent knowon't know where it's coming from next. in that context, they can't really make bold statements about keeping people safe because really they don't know how many people they're looking for at the moment. so i think they will take it very carefully. they will try and reassure people. they will ask the media to report as responsibly as they can, while knowing that there are plenty of people in french

society who don't agree with the free doms of this democracy and really want to get out there and make a statement as these two brothers have.doms of this democracy and really want to get out there and make a statement as these two brothers have. >> we're just getting reports from french officials confirming that they say there have been no fatalities today. there were some initial reports that in a gunfight that preceded the two brothers arriving at that industrial estate there were reports that there may have been fatalities in the local area. some outlets were talking butt two -- about two deaths. but french officials saying nobody has been killed in the shootout. what's your impression christian? we are now in a -- i suppose we have to call it a siege situation. is your impression from what you've heard from the interior minister, from hollande and from police sources on the ground that they now see this taking some time to play out?

>> well it's some relief that there have been no injuries this morning. that's the good bit. and we must have real sympathy with the hostage inside that printing press who i'm sure is fearing the worst. but i think from a police perspective, stephen, think about where we were 12 hours ago. they were on the perimeter of a forest, an enormous forest about the size of paris, that had been used in the second world war. it had bunkers, it had trenches. it would have been a real struggle trying to find these two men. then they break out from that area. they were on the road. there were no injuries as a gunfight ensued and then they descended on dammartin. i suppose they will think they got lucky today in some respects because they've stopped them coming into the city. they're in an area where they can contain it. they only have one hostage, although our sympathies go to that hostage. it is not a situation as bad as it could have been. so i think in that respect, they will take heart from that and they will ensure that these two men don't move from the position that they're in. >> christian for now, thank you

very much indeed but i have no doubt we'll be talking to you again very soon. a few more details from the french interior minister. he's at the scene in dammartin at the moment. he's been speaking to the media. stephen just brought you that detail about the fact that no one has been killed or injured this morning, but one other fact we should bring to you as well is he has said that the main priority right now of the security services is to establish dialogue with the suspects. and in fact, we are getting reports that that indeed has happened with the two men telling french negotiators they are prepared to die at the moment. well, the other remarkable piece of news coming to us in the past few minutes or so is an encounter that happened earlier today. a man has spoken to french radio. he claimed that he shook hands with one of the gunmen in dammartin this morning. the salesman known only as didier arrived at the printing business for a meeting. he mistook a man who was dressed in a black uniform with a

machine gun for a member of the french security services. this is what he had to say. >> translator: when i arrived at the printer's office, my client came out accompanied by an armed person who had introduced himself as a policeman. my client asked me to leave, so i left. the person who pretended to be a policeman told me, go away as we do not kill civilians. that struck me profoundly. then i decided to call police when i realized that the person who spoke to me was in fact one of the terrorists. i met a terrorist, and in fact shook his hand. i did not recognize him officially. they were dressed as special forces members with a black uniform, bulletproof jackets and a machine gun. he could have been a policeman if he hadn't told me that they did not kill civilians. they were heavily armed like special forces members. they had kalashnikovs. i was outside the door of the office. i shook hands with michelle and one of the terrorists who told me he was from the police and ordered me to leave as they did

not kill civilians, so i left. michelle closed the door and i went to join the crowd outside. i didn't know if that was a hostage-taking incident or a burglary. i knew something wasn't right. i didn't hear any shots. i think i'm going to see my colleagues play the lottery, as i was extremely lucky this morning. >> didier there feeling extremely lucky when he shook hands with one of the gunmen said or cherif kouachi this morning. we want to bring you up to date with exactly where this is taking place, the situation at the moment. because what's happened is dammartin-en-goele is right near the charles de gaulle airport. charles de gaulle is of course the main airport in paris. officials there are saying that they've changed the landing and takeoff patterns for aircraft. there are helicopters of course involved in what is happening in dammartin. that's affecting things as well. and european air traffic controllers also saying it is expecting heavy flight delays right across the region.

>> so we'll keep you posted with all of that but for now, let's join richard galpin, who's with us here in the studio. i just want to take a step back and think about said and cherif kouachi, the two brothers who are now holed up in that industrial estate. what is the latest information we have about these two? what do we know about their network? >> i think the key thing we found out over the past few hours coming from american officials is the fact that the elder brother said went to yemen. where there are reports that he actually underwent some kind of basic military training over a period of time. also met a very prominent al qaeda leader who has now subsequently been killed in a drone strike. and clearly then returned back to france. the younger brother we know was actually convicted for helping to send french jihadists to go

and fight in iraq. this was in the mid 2000s. he spent a period of time in prison. according to some reports, after that, the thinking certainly from his lawyer was that he become less radical and he worked selling fish and a pizza delivery man all sorts of odd jobs and regarded as a very nice guy by people that met him. >> but the more extraordinary it seems by the minute that these two were not under surveillance. >> that was a very interesting thing. if you remember on the day, i think it was a very senior minister that said no doubt they were under surveillance, but clearly somehow i don't know whether it was just on that day or they had dropped that level of surveillance on them. one other point, there was a report saying -- i'm not sure it was absolutely right -- that there had been a police car placed outside the offices of "charlie hebdo" magazine, which had been there for a period of time to maintain a high level of security. that had dropped off the police car according to this report

was no longer there, had been removed about a month before this attack took place. >> right now, these two brothers are holed up inside this printing warehouse. and the interior minister has said they're trying to establish contact with them. but we're actually getting reports that's happened already. >> this is unconfirmed, i'm afraid, but there is an official in the village or town saying she has spoken to other officials who say we know that the main high school which is very close to where it all is happening, has been evacuated. these officials apparently saying that was the result of negotiations on the telephone with the two gunmen inside the building. and if that's the case dish mean, obviously it's interesting per se, but also interesting perhaps in the sense of the state of mind of the two gunmen that they do want to negotiate. i think although we've heard this line that they want to die as martyrs, what we know for sure is that the attack they carried out two days ago was not a suicide attack. that they basically went in and

planned to escape. these were not suicide bombers. i think that's an important differentiation. >> do stay with us. french security forces have surrounded the two brothers suspected of carrying out the deadly attack on the "charlie hebdo" magazine on wednesday. there is a massive security operation under way right now in dammartin, and we are keeping right across it. we have correspondents on the ground there for you monitoring every development. and we'll keep you across what is happening there in this developing story. >> indeed. we can go live now to dammartin. we can join a man on the line from his house, it's close to the print works where the hostage situation is taking place. the pictures you can see right now. it must have been pretty extraordinary last few hours.

what can you see now? >> i'm near the house where the hostage takers -- what i can see is only some policemen. everything now i can see. there were four helicopters. but now they are on the ground. >> we've heard reports that people in businesses nearby the print works were told to switch off all of their lights to bunker down. we were also told that schools were in lockdown and that some pupils were being escorted by armed police outside of their schools. have you heard butt that -- about that sort of thing? >> i've heard my neighbor is in a high school near the hostage

taker. now they are confined inside the school. i called the high school of my little brother. they told us the same in another city. so all the cities near dammartin are blocked by the police. >> just give me a sense of the local geography. is this industrial zone well away from residential areas? and how easy is it for the police to completely surround the building where these two brothers appear to be? >> yeah, it's an industrial area near houses. 400 meters from the hostage takers. it's a big area for i think the

policemen have space to take position to survey the hostage takers. >> what about -- you're a resident who lives very close by. have you been told not to leave your home? what are local people like you being told? >> yes. everybody has to stay inside the house. walking in the street to tell everybody to stay inside. >> in a way, it's a daft question, but i'm going to ask it anyway. is the town -- would you say full of fear right now? how would you characterize the mood that you're seeing amongst neighbors, friends, people who live around you? >> yeah. everybody is worried. we don't know what can happen. but all the officers are here so we are confident that everybody is worried.

there is my neighbor who was alone in her house and she was so scared so she came to us. >> it is clearly a town that is facing extraordinary events. they are unfolding by the minute. and of course, we will keep you up to date with everything that happens in the town as we watch it unfold. >> we are getting a few developments from elsewhere in france. we are hearing that muslim people who have been arriving for prayers in that town have arrived to find that their mosque has been covered with racist graffiti in fluorescent paint on the gate. richard galpin is still with us. real fear that some of these sorts of incidents will increase. i know the imams have been asked to condemn this. >> today obviously is a key day because it's friday prayers, so you'll have an awful lot of people going to the mosques.

i have to say, this latest incident is not the first. there have been several incidents since the attack on "charlie hebdo" offices a couple of days ago. shots very fired. also reports that there was some sort of fire bomb. >> grenades. >> yeah. this is one of the biggest concerns for the french government right now, how to keep the lid on that to ensure that the anger felt by the attack does not spill over into violence particularly violence directed at the muslim community, which we know is huge in france. >> and the importance today of the moderate muslim voice as well to be heard in the mosques, but on media as well social media, too. >> yes. some of the muslim leaders were quick to condemn it but i think people will be listening out to hear what is said in the friday prayers and whether the imams do strongly come out to condemn the

attack and what happened to "charlie hebdo." >> thank you for that. we're going to keep you posted and there is lots more to come on this story from our special program on bbc news. this is dammartin. we will stay with you. we'll be in paris as well coming up here on the program. so as stephen said, do stay with us. ♪ grab a refreshing canada dry ginger ale. real ginger. real taste. real ahhh. [container door opening] ♪ what makes it an suv is what you can get into it. ♪

[container door closing] what makes it an nx is what you can get out of it. ♪ introducing the first-ever lexus nx turbo and hybrid. once you go beyond utility there's no going back. ow... my scalp hurts. my hair hurts. this is what it can be like to have shingles. a painful, blistering, rash. look at me. she's embarrassed by the way she looks. if you had chickenpox, the shingles virus is already inside you. 1 in 3 people will get shingles in their lifetime. as you get older, your immune system weakens and it loses its ability to keep the shingles virus in check. well i had to go to the eye doctor last week and i have to go back today. the doctor's worried its so close to her eye. the shingles rash can last up to 30

days. it hurts. it's hard. don't wait until you or someone you love develops shingles. talk to your doctor or pharmacist about your risk. you want an advanced degree, but sometimes work can get in the way. now capella university offers flexpath, a revolutionary new program that allows you to earn a degree at your pace and graduate at the speed of you. flexpath from capella university.

ah, got it. these wifi hotspots we get with our xfinity internet service are all over the place. hey you can stop looking.

i found one. see? what do you think a wifi hotspot smells like? i'm thinking roast beef. want to get lunch? get the fastest wifi hotspots and more coverage on the go than any other provider. xfinity, the future of awesome. welcome to this bbc news special with me stephen sackur and lucy hockings. >> a dramatic siege is under way in the french town of dammartin just north of paris, where hundreds of armed police have cornered two brothers suspected of carrying out wednesday's deadly attacks on the "charlie hebdo" magazine. >> a live shot of the industrial zone where the siege is unfolding. said kouachi and cherif kouachi are believed to be holding one hostage inside a print works there in the industrial estate. police trying to make contact with them.

there has been some contact now. the suspects reportedly saying that they are ready for martyrdom. a very warm welcome to our special coverage of dramatic events in dammartin. a small town north of paris where hundreds of french police and special forces have converged on an industrial estate where the two suspects in wednesday's attack on the satirical magazine "charlie hebdo" appear to be preparing to make their last stand. >> cherif and said kouachi are believed to be holding one hostage inside the offices of a printing business. reports from the scene are suggesting that police have been in contact with the two gunmen who have expressed their readiness for martyrdom. >> the french president francois hollande is supervising the massive security operation from the interior ministry in paris,

and the interior minister bernard cazeneuve has vowed the threat will be neutralized. >> one other development to bring you as well, a significant one, too. police are now saying there is a connection between a suspect identified in that killing of a policewoman in the south of paris yesterday and the two brothers. >> so there are the live pictures from dammartin. hundreds of police surrounding the print works where the two gunmen, the brothers believed to be inside that white building. we can keep that picture up. we can consider what the options for the police are. and we can also bring you this wrap-up of all of the latest developments from our correspondent, richard lister. >> reporter: on a rainswept road on the outskirts of paris, the first indications that a major police operation was under way. one by one, the approach roads to the village of dammartin were

blocked off. journalists were ordered to leave. as several police helicopters hovered over the village, there were reports that at some stage shots had been fired and hostages taken, though police would not verify that officially. the suspect, cherif kouachi, age 32, was a pizza delivery driver who had been detained in 2005 and jailed three years later for terrorism offenses. his brother said aged 34 had been involved in a prison escape plot and attended a radical mosque. the first confirmed sighting of the two men was near near villers-cotteret yesterday. they were thought to move to nearby longpont after stealing food and fuel from a petrol station. police set up a road block and began a search operation. for several hours, longpont was flooded with armed officers going house to house aware that the suspects they were hunting were ruthless and heavily armed. at some stage, the two brothers are thought to have stolen another car and driven to

dammartin. the french interior minister bernard cazeneuve emerged from a meeting with the president and prime minister this morning to say that yesterday's police operation had revealed important information and that all police in the area had been mobilized for the operation in dammartin. president holland said the threat was an international one, and there had been other terrorist attacks planned in france in recent months. >> translator: i will not go into details, but there were attempts to carry out operations and we knew that anything could happen at any time. as we stand here at the present time we should do everything to guarantee the protection of our citizens. >> reporter: the two suspects are believed to be holed up in this building owned by a printing company. it's completely surrounded by police and some reports say they've made contact with those inside. residents have been told to stay in their homes with the lights off. hundreds of children and their

teachers are taking refuge in a local high school. >> we all call to know if they are okay or not. in the school, there are about 900 persons. we are really scared. >> reporter: two days after the murder of 12 people in the "charlie hebdo" attack the hunt for the suspects appears to be nearing a resolution. richard lister, bbc news. >> one development to bring you that has just come to us in the past few seconds or so. we are hearing on the reuters news agency it's on social media as well that there has been a shootout in the eastern part of paris. this happened at a kosher supermarket, we understand. we have no more details for you just that single fact that we are now getting through on various news agencies that a shootout has happened at a kosher supermarket in the east of paris. many correspondents and producers in paris following this up for us. we will bring you more as soon as we hear it. >> and as we've been hearing

from our correspondent in paris, the city is full of armed police at the moment, so there is no question that that particular location, it's believed to be in eastern paris, where reports suggest the shooting may have taken place. that now is beginning to be the focus of an enormous french police security operation. we can go back to our conversation with richard galpin, our world affairs correspondent, who is following every development here with us. this is going to just be another enormous headache at a time when the french security services are clearly stretched to the limit. >> yes absolutely. and, you know it's very early stage of this so it's very difficult to be sure about anything, but what we do also know is that this -- there has been a link made between the shooting in southwest of paris after the initial attack. on thursday morning. absolutely. initially, the police said there was no link between that shooting and what happened at "charlie hebdo."

then, today, they changed their minds and said there is a link and we know that -- or it's assumed that the gunmen who carried out that attack killing the policewoman is still on the run. so difficult to know but it's possible we could connect the dots. >> we're getting a few more details. lamond has a news feed and they're saying armed police are evacuating the entire area there as well. so we're starting to be able to fill in the picture of what is happening there in eastern paris. but just to remind you, we're just hearing that there has been some kind of shootout in eastern paris at a kosher supermarket. details still coming in. we're just keeping across that at the moment. but as stephen was saying such a big challenge ahead now because there's this huge march taking place on sunday as well. that is going to be a headache for security forces. >> and they've been worried about it right from the beginning. as soon as they knew there was a big demonstration taking

place -- obviously we had the rallies already over the past couple of days but what's happening on sunday is on a completely different scale. they're expecting tens of thousands of people very large numbers, and of course for the french police it's going to be extremely tricky. particularly if they have not managed to get hole of the gunmen who still thought to be on the run in the area. >> let's reflect on dammartin as well. we should never forget that this is a realtime hostage situation. correct me if i'm wrong. i don't think we know anything about the identity of the one person who is believed to be being held by the kouachi brothers inside the print works. have you heard anything at all about the status of this hostage? >> no we have not heard anything at all about that. we don't know who that is when the hostage was taken, was it earlier on or when they

actually broke in to this printing company. what we do know is that it seems the focus of the french security operation right now is to negotiate. and they have apparently managed to make some kind of contact on the telephone. there are some reports that they managed to negotiate for the school to be evacuated nearby to be evacuated safely as a result of speaking with the two gunmen inside the printing press. we don't know for sure if that's right. but that would -- if it's correct, it would indicate that they are -- negotiations are having some kind of impact. but that seems to be the focus. and of course they can take their time the police. they don't have to rush it. they have time on their side in this instance. unless, of course, they think there's any imminent threat to the hostage who's being held by the gunman. >> just to update you on the latest from paris those reports that we're getting of a shootout there in the east of the city. we are hearing one person, this is on lamonde, is said to have been wounded. we're also hearing that a hostage has been taken at that

jewish supermarket. one source of course telling many news agencies the armed police are in the area they've evacuated the entire area as well. i think links are already being made, but this is unconfirmed, of course that the gunman could be the same man who killed a policewoman in paris on thursday. we absolutely cannot confirm that, but those are the kind of things that are coming through on social media, the links that are being made already. we're keeping across that for you and we'll bring you more as soon as we get it. >> that is absolutely right, lucy. you talk about the tentative reports of a hostage. afp reporting that there may have been a hostage taken. as we will cover i guess over the next few hours and minutes, we may now be talking about two different hostage situations in france. of course, the first one, the one we've been reporting upon for hours now is unfolding in dammartin. we can bring you the live picture from the small town from the industrial zone within that small town of dammartin, about 35 kilometers north of

paris. now, the town has effectively been sealed off by police as they lay siege to the building. that white building where they suspect the "charlie hebdo" gunmen are holed up. there are six schools in the town. four primary, two secondary, and pupils have been ordered to stay inside while arrangements are made for them to be taken to safety. a town spokesman gave these details of that operation. >> translator: we will evacuate the children a few at a time using buses. they'll take them to the town center to a hall where their parents can come to get them peacefully. i have no information on the hostages or on what's happening with the siege. as to where it's taking place well, it's a small building a floor space of maybe 100 square meters. a small printing shop. it's all on one level. i would ask all the parents of children in schools to remain at home. not to come here. they won't be able to do anything here. just wait for us to contact them. and we'll tell them when they

can come and pick up their children from a hall in the town center. i understand that parents are worried, but the forces of law and order here, they're making sure that no one can approach any of the schools, but yes, of course, i can understand how worried the parents must be. >> so a town spokesman talk about what's going on there. i think we have to now bring it back to paris, because reports coming in all the time of what appears to be another hostage situation in the french capital. richard, just tell me from what you've been gathering from social media and news sources what appears to be unfolding in paris now? >> well what we understand reports not absolutely confirmed, although there are multiple news agencies reporting it now, that there has been an attack, a shooting in a supermarket in southern paris, a kosher supermarket. it is reported that one person has been wounded in that been injured. we don't know who.

and there are reports that one hostage has been taken inside the supermarket. those are the details we have. not absolutely confirmed but we're still waiting for confirmation. >> we know it's very dangerous to speculation, particularly so early on. but are any police sources suggesting a link for example, with the gun attack on thursday morning? indeed, in a southern suburb in paris in which one policewoman was killed? any talk of that? >> there's talk of it. i haven't seen any official source so far, any security source saying that. but what we know it's certainly in the southern part of paris, as was the attack on thursday when the policewoman was shot dead. it also comes on a day when the police have said there is a link between the two earlier attacks. the attack on "charlie hebdo" and the following day, the attack in which a policewoman was shot dead with a mancariing

man carrying an assault rifle. >> how worried are police that this network could be wider, that we have this one man involved possibly we're not sure with what has happened and the situation in dammartin with the two brothers holed up. that actually the network is much bigger than this. >> i'm sure they're extremely worried because they know there are a large number of jihadist networks within france. so they'll be very worried. i think we shouldn't get too carried away. we don't know what the links are, but it's certainly looking a little bit copycat in a sense that you have a shooting they've targeted policemen and now they've both taken hostages. so there's certainly a lot of similarities in what's going on. so i'm sure of course the security forces are beginning to be very worried. in a way, it's keeping them off balance. they thought they had a situation under control in dammartin where the siege is going on and now they have another incident with another hostage which they now have to deal with. >> we are now seeing live shots

of the scene in paris there. many, many members of the security forces, the police gathered there it seems. difficult for us to absolutely tell you what has happened there, but it seems pretty clear there has ban shootout at a kosher supermarket and the reports we're getting is that one person has been injured possibly as well a hostage has been taken. we've got a correspondent on the way on the scene, so we'll be talking to him as soon as we get him. >> while your point about speculation is very well-taken i think one thing we do now know, because i think it came from official french sources, is that the french police are drawing a link between the kouachi brothers who are holed up in dammartin, and the gunman who is on the loose, who they believe to have been responsible for the shooting of the policewoman on thursday. what we're getting a picture of

are connections, and perhaps -- maybe it's a grand word, but some sort of network of jihadists in and around paris. >> it's possible. i think probably there are networks. but i think what we need to establish is exactly what the link is between the kouachi brothers and this other gunman. not a particularly strong link maybe it's some kind of relative family member or some distant cousin for example. or it might be people who want to carry out these attacks and they're working together according to some kind of clearly thought out plan. we just do not know at this stage, though. >> so this is the scene live in paris. this is located in the northeast corner where the southeast corner of the 20th meets. so we're on the sort of southeast part of the city. and what you're seeing unfold live on television is this heavy security presence on the streets, as police are surrounding a kosher supermarket

where we understand someone may have been injured in a shootout possibly a hostage has been taken as well. these are the live pictures coming to us from french television. that's the other remarkable thing, isn't it? that this entire situation is playing out in front of the world's media on live television in dammartin and now here in southeastern paris. >> yes, absolutely. there are now -- as far as i understand it the police have been quite quick to try and push the media back. partly, of course for the safety of the journalists, if there was to be a shootout with high velocity rifles which we know the gunman have every chance of people being injured. but i think also partly because the security forces want to try and push back the media attention on this. because of course, people are watching all the way around the world. >> i think we have to be careful too about everything we say, and just tell everybody that all of this is very tentative, because things are developing minute by minute. some suggestions it isn't necessarily just one hostage in

this unfolding situation in the supermarket in paris. that was the initial report. it may be true, we just don't know but there are some indications that it possibly could be more than one hostage. as you see the pictures and the police activity in this paris suburb it is quite obvious that, you know information is coming in second by second minute by minute. and the security forces are obviously mounting. a massive new operation in the french capital now. >> i'm just looking on twitter at the moment as well and the other thing that seems overwhelming is the action from parisians to just expressing their shock and horror at the pictures that they're watching when they're at home. an incredibly difficult time for everyone in france but particularly for people in paris who just say that they feel their city is under siege. richard, are you seeing anything else new to bring us. >> not at the moment, no. we're still waiting for updates.

one thing we can also mention again is the fact that the people of paris and across france want to hold a very very big rally on sunday to express obviously in memory of those killed, but also to express their determination, that there should not be any curbs on press freedom. >> we're talking about hundreds of thousands. >> it's planned not just in paris, but in all the major towns, cities, and even villages. so if the situation remains on such a high alert as we're seeing now with this other attack going on apparently in a supermarket in the south, it's going to be a really moot point how the security forces are going to deal with that. secondly also whether people will still want to brave the streets or whether they will feel that it is actually too dangerous to go out. >> a huge amount resting on francois hollande as well. he gave that press conference this morning and it was interesting to note that he was trying to convince people as well about france's role in

mali the fact that they have an aircraft carrier in the gulf as well with french troops stationed to help in the battle against islamic state, too. that seems to be part of his message today to say look we've got this global involvement in this fight against jihadists, and that's important. >> yes. and to try and justify what they've done and also to say that as he said it helps defend from external aggression. but in that same speech he gave, he was also talking about the fact that the security services have to absolutely guarantee the safety of people taking part in the demonstrations on sunday. they are clearly worried about the situation, as obviously they would be but i'm sure that concern will now have been heightened quite significantly given what's happened in the past few minutes. >> yeah. and as we look at these pictures coming in from paris, i can just give you one more little piece of information that just adds to the jigsaw.

we now know that the paris supermarket at the center of this police operation, it's a kosher supermarket. i won't pretend i knew this before, but it does in french mean super kosher. it is clearly a jewish-run supermarket with customers who clearly are beginning to be jugoing to be jewish and i think we can assume that is significant in terms of why it has been targeted by what appears to be a gunman intent on doing as much harm as he could, and we now believe he has at least one hostage. so it's in the southeastern suburb of paris, and clearly now the focus of an extraordinary security operation. >> and we understand as well that the paris prosecutor has opened a formal investigation into this and that president hollande has asked the interior minister to head down to the scene. we have seen senior government officials at the scene very

quickly. francois hollande down at the "charlie hebdo" offices very quickly, and the interior minister was there quite quickly. just to remind you what you are seeing right now is what appears to be a siege under way in the southeastern part of paris outside a kosher supermarket. a huge security presence under way there. we understand that there is a gunman inside the supermarket with reports that he has taken a hostage, possibly more than one hostage, and that someone has been wounded as well. so here's a map, just bringing you in to the other situation as well. we just saw -- which is out near charles de gaulle, that's where the two brothers are holed up. and now here as you can see just to the southeast of paris with this situation unfolding at the moment. >> so it is an extraordinary situation where we are getting live pictures coming in from two

different massive security operations, and it just seems to me it's worthying and reminding ourselves of just how much pressure this puts on the french security services. we for the last few hours have been talking about dammartin. suddenly our focus is shifting back to a suburb of paris. so you can have as many different sort of emergency plans as you like but they probably have never quite gained for this one. >> no. or i think we can say what we do know is that paris has been on the highest state of alert since wednesday, and they are coming out with this extraordinary figure of almost 90,000 members of the police and military being out involved in the operation. although that operation apparently was -- obviously was for the two gunmen who carried out the attack on "charlie hebdo." so they now have a completely new situation on the ground in paris, which they have to deal with at the same time as what's happening in dammartin.

>> let's update you on what is indeed happening in dammartin. we still have this live shot for you, but things appear to be reasonably quiet. the entire town is in lockdown but we know that said and his brother cherif the kouachi brothers are inside, and the interior minister is speaking of opening dialogue and negotiating with them. our correspondent damian grammaticas is there. you may not be aware, but we now have an ongoing security situation happening in the southeast of paris, where a kosher supermarket has come under attack it seems. there may be hostages. there are reports of some injuries there, but a gunman is inside. so we're just keeping people across that situation. but we do want to know what is happening in dammartin? has anything changed in the past half-hour or so? >> reporter: the situation here continues pretty much as it has now for an hour or two, which is exactly that we have the police units deployed down here just a little bit further behind in behind the trees there is where

that printing works, that business is on the industrial estate close to the highway. and that's where the police are now saying that they have surrounded those two suspects. the spokesman for the interior minister was here a few minutes ago. he said that they would not confirm whether there was a hostage, but a local official here in the town has told the bbc that there is one hostage they believe in there. so with that standoff and what the interior minister told us is that the police are moving slowly to open the channel of communication to those men inside there. but acting he said very very cautiously because they know these men are motivated, are dangerous, are probably highly armed and he said they did not want to do anything that might endanger the life of a hostage in there. >> what else is happening in the town? obviously people are very frightened there. but we're getting reports that most of the children have been evacuate evacuated? >> reporter: yes. children from schools in the

town here have been evacuated, but so too have people living in some of the areas here. right next to that industrial estate just here is a housing estate, an area of bungalows that it stretches down to the industrial area. in that industrial area, too, many other businesses there, we have been speaking to people some of whom were evacuated out by police.

you want an advanced degree, but sometimes work can get in the way. now capella university offers flexpath, a revolutionary new program that allows you to earn a degree at your pace and graduate at the speed of you. flexpath from capella university. discover brookside and discover an exciting combination of tastes. rich, dark chocolate covering soft centers. flavored with exotic fruit juices. it's chocolate and fruit flavors like you've never experienced before. discover brookside. hey, how you doin'? it hurts.

this is what it can be like to have shingles. a painful blistering rash. if you had chicken pox the shingles virus is already inside you. as you get older your immune system weakens and it loses its ability to keep the shingles virus in check. i just can't stand seeing him like this. he's in pain. one in three people will get shingles in their lifetime. the shingles rash can last up to 30 days. i wish that there was something i could do to help. some people with shingles will have long term nerve pain which can last for a few months to a few years. don't wait until you or someone you love develops shingles. talk to your doctor or pharmacist about your risk. there was one distinct day when i got out of the shower and

so, why were you rolling around in cypirion cactus? you know rebecca smith? the new tactical officer? we took a walk in the arboretum we sat down, we got comfortable things got a little romantic and then i rolled over. [ winces ] blurred vision, dizziness, palpitations. a stinging sensation in the lower spine. it's terellian death syndrome, isn't it? i thought we agreed you'd come to me before checking starfleet medical database. yes, well, this time i'm glad i did. 'cause maybe we can stop the cellular decay before it's too late. reg, you don't have terellian death syndrome.