otherwise, what his motivations are. now, in terms of the new reports coming through that there are explosives in the cafe and two more around the cbd, well, we did hear these reports very early on, early in the morning, just a couple of hours into that siege. now of course police can't confirm these to us at the moment. but you have to take into account that they've set up quite a 200-meter exclusion zone around this lindt cafe. now in the vicinity of this cafe is not only channel 7 news, which is a major tv broadcaster here in australia, but we're atalking about the u.s. consulate, the reserve bank, major branches of the common woelt bank and also i have close by is the new south wales parliament. so this has had maximum impact. the media of the world, the eyes of the world are now

concentrated their focus on the cbd. and, look, it is somewhat a confused situation. i think i heard you discussing before that police aren't forthcoming with information. this is certainly a moving feast. and they don't like to give information until a situations like this are resolved. we've been told earlier on today that the man inside, the brother, that he's now referring himself to is monitoring media. and obviously, he's using media as a very powerful tool, confirmed just a couple minutes ago that he's now contacted a third media organization, and you have to take into account as well, the propaganda effect of staging this siege right outside a fourth media organization, which is channel 7. >> i just want to say, i just want to draw down on this straight. we're saying that the gunman's

contacted a radio station and two tv stations not directly, but via hostages so he relays the information to a hostage who then sends it to someone at one of these news organizations. at the same time, through these hostages, he's relayed information that there's two bombs in the cafe and two bombs hidden somewhere in the central business district. is that pretty much what we understand? >> that's where we stand, but you have to take into account the timeline across the day. first it was the radio station that was contacted. then there was about four hours until hostages contacted channel 9. now from reports i'm seeing, it is through the hostages, yes. they haven't spoken directly to this man calling himself "the brother." but obviously, it would seem that he didn't get what he

wanted when he first called the radio station. there's been a lapse of a couple hours, and then things have really ramped up in the last two hours or so. >> and he's as far as we know, not getting what he wanted. >> which is this conversation with the prime minister. >> yes, and no word from police, not a hint of a word about any bombs. >> yeah. >> that could be in the coffee shop or in the area. >> and laura, sorry, these details you may or may not know. and if you don't, that's fine. but when they talk about bombs, i mean, that's a fairly generic term. it could refer to a small explosive or something that has a huge impact. >> exactly. >> was anything like that specific? >> that's exactly right. and we know how unsophisticated an explosive can be. a bomb can be, and no, we don't have anything specific as that. we don't know if what materials are involved, but we, the only thing we do know is that this man walked in with a shot gun,

it's believed. and one of the, a witness who didn't get caught up in this siege situation actually saw that gun and then, of course, left the building, and he's out of harm's way. >> interesting, more interesting details from you, and we appreciate you joining us, and we know it's hard to decipher truth from whatever. but you've brought us some information. and we appreciate it. >> it just adds to the ongoing confusion. laura there joining us from sky news australia, bringing us up to date with this information. we had heard some information about this earlier in the day, and we actually stayed away from it because it was unconfirmed. it was initially said that as laura just reported then, that he had contacted this radio station. he did, in fact, want to speak to the prime minister live on the radio, but it was all unconfirmed. so we just stayed away. >> as she said, we expect to hear from the prime minister again, within the next 20

minutes. so when that statement comes, we'll, of course bring it to you. >> and of course all of this ongoing in sydney as it comes up on 6:00 local time. this siege going on now for more than eight hours. i'm john vause at the cnn center in atlanta. >> and i'm natalie allen. we have been with you for several hours, and we will push on as this situation in australia continues. it is breaking news of a siege there in a coffee shop that has been ongoing. a gunman holding people hostage at the lindt coffee shop in downtown sydney. sky news has just informed us that the gunman is calling himself "the brother", and has contacted a radio station and two tv stations