hi there, i'm brianna keilar in for wolf blitzer. it is 1:00 p.m. in washington, 7:00 p.m. in paris and 9:00 p.m. in baghdad. wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks so much for joining us. in just 11 hours from now, probably the most iconic of new year's celebrations takes place in new york city in times square. we've already seen celebrations in places like hong kong and in sydney, australia. and those have gone on without a hitch. amid stepped up security as those cities, like new york, protect against possible terror attacks. cnn justice reporter evan perez is following this story for us. before we get to times square, let's talk about this breaking news out of rochester, new york. we've learned a man from that area who may have actually been planning a new year's attack in the name of isis, he has been arrested and charged. what can you tell us? >> that's right, his name is emmanuel latchman. he's 25 years old.

he was arrested yesterday by the fbi. according to the fbi, he was in touch or he claimed to be in touch with a member of isis overseas who was directing this planned attack, which was to take place today. help was plotting to attack a restaurant and bar, perhaps kidnap somebody. the plan involved knives, bombs and possibly a pressure cooker bomb. a plot being cooked up with someone who was actually working with the fib, an undercover informant. one of these informant was paid $19,000. a second informant was paid $7,000 for working with the fbi. latchman is somebody who apparently had a mental health background, mental health history, mental health problems. served some time for a robbery offense in new york state. we have a picture of him we can show from a previous arrest here in new york state.

really, brianna, this case illustrates not only the reach of isis, in the past year, there have been a record number of arrests, 60 so far this year. pretty much every corner of the country, there are people who are consuming isis propaganda online and according to the fbi coming up with plots such as this one. we'll see whether or not any more of these come forth today. it's definitely been a busy year. today is particularly busy for the fbi, keeping an eye on plots all over the country, threats all over the country. >> any credible ones when it comes to the big times square celebration? >> the homeland security department and the new york police department says they know -- both say they know of no credible specific threats. one of the things that happen here is people hear these words and they thing nothing's going wrong. just days before the san bernardino attack, the obama administration noted that there were no credible specific

threats. that's the thing that worries the fbi, are the plots that they don't know. >> doesn't mean people shouldn't be concerned. keep your eyes peeled on this new year's eve. all right, evan perez, thanks so much. i want to talk more now about the security situation in new york city for new year's. joining me now, new york mayor bill de blasio. thank you so much for joining us. and you've said you're going to have the biggest police presence eer. tell us about what that means. the officers, the multiple agencies that are coming together for this. >> about 6,000 police officers in times square to keep everyone safe. it's a very, very extensive process of screening that we go through for anyone who goes into times square to enswroi the celebration. this is one of the great events in this country each year. about 1 million people are expected. it's a fantastic party. we're going to keep it safe. it's going to be one of the safest places in the united states tonight because 6,000 police officers.

lots of additional measures. lots of security measures you can see. lots you can't see that will keep people safe. we have added now in new york city over the course of this year a new 500 person specialized anti-terror squad within the nypd. our critical respond command. we put that in our last city budget. that's now up and running. these are officers who are heavily armed, well trained specifically to prevent terror incidents. 500-plus officers full time. you'll see a lot of their presence tonight as well. >> is this one of the big concerns for you, this idea that maybe there are no credible threats when it companies to this huge celebration in times square, but we just heard evan's report there, before san bernardino, there wasn't a credible threat. it's this sort of morphess challenge you deal with when you're a city official. >> well, it's true, there's always things that are out there that we may not know about. but i'd like to note, brianna, for one thing, new york city has a tradition, the nypd has done

an extraordinary job of preventing terror attacks. there's been a number of plots that were threatened. we work now increasingly more closely with the department of homeland security, with the fbi, et cetera. the different agencies didn't alwaysoptimally. now that communication is much stronger. you see plots like that caught in time. that has been what's typical. from time to time, there's a lone wolf who we don't have an indication of. that's a reminder to all of us to be vigilant. the phrase, if you see something, say something, actually is a very meaningful change. someone's behavior changes. they say something to you. the authorities need to know that. one of the things the average citizen can do is let authorities know of someone that

can be a danger. i think the fact is, most of the time, the vast majority of the time, we do have an indication of the problem to do something about it. >> we heard from someone not too long ago who did security for this times square celebration and he said that, look, people are standing around for hours and they have really nothing to do but kind of look and watch and wait. so that's what they're doing. i do want to ask you about something we've seen out of belgium, in brussels. officials canceled their new year's celebration, canceled their fireworks because of the threat of terror. paris canceled fireworks. they're toning down that celebration. can you imagine that ever happening in new york? >> i can't except for the most exceptional situation. we have 35,000 member police force. it's actually going to grow by several thousand next year in patrol strength. we have the capacity here to take a celebration like this and make sure it's exceedingly safe. we did that with the pope's visit back in september. at the same time his holiness was here, 170 leaders from around the world were here for

the u.n. general assembly. that came off without a hitch. the thanksgiving parade had several million people, that came off without a hitch. we have the capacity. and as i said, now, a 500-plus anti-terror dedicated force that specializes in. you'll see them tonight. you'll see lots of police officers in regular uniforms with regular weaponry. you'll see the heavily arms officers from our critical response command. we can protect people in a very special way here in this city. anyone who goes into the celebration area goes through not one but two mag nomer its and gets a very, very careful scening. so you're right, with this kind of concentration and focus, this is going to be a very safe place tonight. >> they're dedicated people for sure to go through that, to celebrate in times square tonight. while i have you, i want to ask you about an announcement we're expecting from president obama that he's going to take executive action when it comes to guns. that he wants to, through his power alone, expand back ground

checks on gun sales going after the so-called gun show loophole where when you have owner to owner sales, there's sort of a way to avoid a background check. i imagine there's going to be a legal challenge. i also know that you would support this move. how do you see this playing out? what are you concerns here? >> i think the president's right. from a new york city perspective, too many of our people have died because of the legal guns got into the hands of criminals. some police officers have died because illegal guns in the hands of criminals. we're sick of it and we need stronger gun regulation in this country. it has to be fair. i think the president is absolutely right to say here's a loophole where the background checks aren't being done properly. we need to close that loophole. we need to make sure terrorists don't get those guns. there's thousands of people on the no fly list who can walk into a gun shop or go to a gun show and get a gun. that's unacceptable.

it's unacceptable for the whole country in my view. we need to make sure that our families are safe and our law enforcement officers are safe by getting rid of these illegal guns so the president's on the right track. i think bluntly that this horrible series of events, the campus massacres that became all too common. what happened in san bernardino. all of these events are i think increasingly causing the american people to look for some middle ground on the gun issue. i think the president is doing something to bring us toward that kind of progress. >> mayor bill de blasio, thank you so much. we hope this is a wonderful new year's. we will be watching of course because our special coverage starts at 8:00 p.m. >> happy new year, enjoy. >> all right, you too. i do want now to go to some breaking news. these are live picture. this is a massive -- taped pictures. we just turned this around.

moments ago from dubai in the uae. this is catastrophic. these are unbelievable images of a fire at a -- it's the address hotel. authorities right now are on site, trying to address this. but this is a luxury hotel in dubai. you can see onlookers there. it's unclear what the situation is, if there are injuries. it's a five star hotel there. this is something right now 300 meters tall, this building. it's not far from the new year's eve fireworks display that was there in due by. we're going to continue. this is actually new video we're bringing in. this is obviously very alarming, the images we're seeing of this fire just engulfing the side of this luxury hotel, 63 stories high, in dubai, in the united

arab emirates, on what is a holid holiday. so we're seeing there are onlookers there who are looking obviously at what's going on. a lot of smoke filling the air. we're going to staying with this as we try to assess what's exactly going on. this just came in moments ago. we at this point have two views of what is -- of this hotel there. in the uae. this is a luxury hotel, five star. as you can imagine on a holiday like this, there will be a number of folks who were staying there. we don't know at this point, pardon me, what the cause of the fire is, all we know at this point is this fire has broken out. this is in the downtown area of the city. this is the address hotel. the authorities are working to address the incident. this is what the dubai, the government there in dubai, the

media office for them, are saying on their twitter account. this is a hotel that when people go to dubai, they would stay here. this is something that is very much a draw. you can see right now from the pictures we can make out, there are what appear to be the floors on this one side of the address hotel completely engulfed in flames. this seems to be moving very rapidly. these are pictures that were just turned around moments ago to show you of this hotel in dubai. we're trying to get more information as our international desk is working to look at more details on this. but at this point in time, just again to recap what we're seeing. this is a fire. it's a skyscraper. it's a luxury hotel that is 300 meters tall in the downtown area. this is -- the cause of the fire at this point, unknown. there are at least 20 stories we

believe. pictures there, engulfed by flames. we're seeing at this point debris. we're unsure exactly what it is. raining down from this inferno that is ungulfing a significant part of the address hotel in downtown dubai. no injuries reported at this point. at the same time, it's very early. authorities are trying to assess the situation. they're trying to address this. and there's not at this point a lot of information. we're trying to figure it out. you can see people there on the scene. looking at the hotel. some of them are responders. a lot of them just caught by surprise as they see this in downtown dubai. so, again, this is what we're monitoring. this is a fire at a hotel in dubai. a luxury hotel that's 300 meters. we're getting more information. we're going to have some more for you after a quick break.

after a dvt blood clot.mind when i got out of the hospital what about my family? my li'l buddy? and what if this happened again? i was given warfarin in the hospital but i wondered if this was the right treatment for me. then my doctor told me about eliquis. eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots and reduces the risk of them happening again. not only does eliquis treat dvt and pe blood clots, but eliquis also had significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. knowing eliquis had both... turned around my thinking. don't stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to.

eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. if you had a spinal injection while on eliquis call your doctor right away if you have tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness. while taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily... and it may take longer than usual for bleeding to stop. seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. eliquis treats dvt & pe blood clots. plus had less major bleeding. both made switching to eliquis right for me. ask your doctor if it's right for you.

we're following some alarming breaking news coming out of dubai in the united arab emirates. this is the address hotel , it s a luxury hotel. this is a place where many foreigners stay. it is engulfed in flames. these are picture from al arabiya that we turned around just moments ago. what we're able to discern from the amount of damage so far is that a significant portion of the hotel has been engulfed in flames. keeping in mind it's also hard to figure out what part of the complex has been taken over by this fire. it is not just a hotel, although it is a luxury hotel with

hundreds of rooms thatmany foreigners will be staying in certainly at a very busy time like new year's, but it also includes a residential area. this is a hotel and a residential area. there's a mall in this building. there are a number of restaurants. this is a huge very busy complex. it's actually located basically in the shadow of the world's tallest skyscraper there in dubai, which you probably would definitely know if you've seen that. but at this point in time we know evacuations are under way. you can see in these what are really horrific pictures are the fire just climbing up the stories here of this 63-story building. i do want to bring in maha abu acontinue. she's a resident in deboou. she was actually just evacuated from this hotel. maha, can you tell me what you just saw? >> yes, we were sitting at the

restaurant and we noticed behind us we saw a small flame on it looked like a mezzanine level and there were people on the stairs having dinner to left of it. then it's like, oh, my god, that's not a flame for heat, that's like a fire. and then all of a sudden it kind of started glowing. and then -- sorry. and then immediately we decided we needed to get out of there because we saw debris falling from the building. i have to be honest with you, those people were professional, they got us out calmly, they evacuated everybody quickly. all the staff knew exactly what to do. we were really impressed with how easy we got out of there. then the fire trucks started coming in. immediately went from kind of a sparkling glitter for the holiday to a very plain kind of -- and they evacuated everybody in the hotel into the

mall. and then we evacuated out of the mall into the street and we're heading to our car now. >> so was this -- this was happening during the fireworks display that took place very close by? >> no, no, no. it was 9:35. so we were all having dinner. people were just having dinner. the fountain was doing its normal show every 15 minutes. the fireworks display didn't start until midnight which is another hour from now. >> it was sort of the display there at the hotel, the fountain display. give us a sense of where this is. and also before i actually ask that question, you said that people -- the staff, they were able to evacuate you very quickly? could you tell -- >> yes, they took us to direct stairways. they guided us down. everyone pretty much remained calm. at first we thought it was a small fire. then it quickly escalated. then we're like, we got to get

out of here. >> were you able to see if any of the residents or any -- >> -- moving very quickly, but this hotel, it was fully packed. a lot of dignitaries there. i could see a lot of secret service personnel there with royal families and other people that were there so it was full house. >> where are you visiting from? >> i live here. i live in dubai. my family was visiting from states. >> your family was visiting and you were out there in the restaurants. there's a number of hotel rooms. there's a number of residential, there's a residential part of this hotel. for how quickly this was moving, do you feel that their wey were to evacuate any of those people? >> they wouldn't let anyone go into the hotel. everybody outside on the terr e terrace, on the outside, they wouldn't let anyone go into the hotel. they blocked it off. >> i think our concern at this

point is there may have been people in the hotel and we're still waiting to get -- >> yes, they were trying -- they didn't want to put more people in the hotel because they were try to evam wait the people in the hotel. everyone who was outside, they moved them throughout side corridors and back stair wells. we landed on the property the waterfront where we went straight into the mall. >> tell us about the timing of how quickly you saw this grow from what was just sort of a small thing that you weren't sure about whether or not it was a fire to then you being outside and seeing the hotel engulfed in flames. >> well, no, it was about five, seven minutes. it was small and then it was pretty quick. we decided we were out. and then the whole building just -- the whole front of it started to engulf. we were out of by the time the smoke was being an issue. >> tell us about this hotel, where it's lock dated. why people come to the hotel.

i understand a lot of foreigners stay there. >> yeah, i mean, we were in the hotel because we didn't want to be in the middle of all the crowds at the base of the building. there's a lot of people there. so we decided to stay across the bay so we were away from all the crowds. we were away. between us and -- there's a big lake where they do the fountain shows. >> all right, and so is this a particular busy time, i imagine, as people are -- it's already a very busy city. as you said, there are crowds outside. people are getting ready for the new year, for celebrations. >> yeah, last year, they said about a million people were here. i have to be honest, it's super well organized. everyone feels safe. everyone's calm. i don't know how they did such a great job. but it's been really fast. >> do you think -- i don't know if you've seen -- have you seen

the latest pictures? have you been able to see it from the outside? >> i'm looking at it now. it's engulfed in smoke. the flames are all over the front side of the facade of the building. we saw debris coming off of it. but it was just a small section of the hotel. now it's the entire front of the hotel. we were up there, we were on the 82nd floor. we came down for dinner. i feel bad if anyone's stuck in there. >> do you have concern that people may be? did you hear anything over loud speakers -- >> i don't know, i mean, i'm sure, there's people in hotel. there's high-end luxury suites. some people watched the firew k fireworks from their room. >> we actually watched all of the lights go out there on the top of the address hotel. which is a number of hotel

rooms, also residences there. so obviously power supply seems to be taken out from part of the billion here. so maha, you were on the second floor at 8:00 p.m. -- >> we came down, we came down for dinner. we were up on the 42nd floor at a resident apartment and came down, had dinner. >> then about 9:30 was when you saw this happen, right? >> -- everybody's fine -- >> so you were there at 9:30 -- >> hello? >> can you hear me? >> i can hear you. >> so at about 8:00 p.m., you were at dinner and you came down to what level of the hotel where you started to see that there was -- >> we were on the ground floor level. they have a restaurant there on a terrace overlooking. we were up at a penthouse suite on the 42nd floor with friends.

a lot of people were having parties in their room. we heard them. >> okay. so you -- what we're understanding now, we're get a report, was that it was the 20th floor where the party started. so when you saw some sort of smoke or fire, was that on the ground floor? where was that that you saw? >> no, no, it was up alevle. it was up. it wasn't on the ground floor level. i don't know if it was the 20th floor, but it was -- the start of where the rooms are because there were balconies and there were terraces. >> what floor to the balconies and the terraces start on, about? >> i don't know, to be honest with you. i think it's like 16. because one elevator bank was from 6 to 16 and then i think 16 and up is where it starts. i don't know. i don't want to give you information that's not right. >> okay, maha, stay with me. i just want to talk about some of the pictures we're seeing right now on cnn. these are people being evacuated

from this hotel residential mall complex. just like our guest on the phone with us was. she is describing a situation where, you know, she had been, like so many people, in this building. up dozens of stories. and what is, you know, this is a 63-story building. she was up at 4:42. gathering with friends. as so many people she says in this building are doing on this holiday. this is a building that has a great vantage point to the fireworks display. so that's why a lot of people are there. they're not even going to the fireworks. they're having parties in their homes, watching fireworks from their windows, from their balconies. this, again, is the address hotel in downtown dubai. a very busy area on a very busy new year's eve. i do want to bring in now jonathan gilliam. he's a law enforcement analyst for cnn but he also manages, has

managed security in the past for other giant events. jonathan, you're looking -- these pictures, these are horrific. what we're hearing from one of our guests is this all happened very quickly. and we do want that a lot of people were there on this new year's eve in what is their home having celebrations ahead of the fireworks display which were to come about 2 1/2 hours after this started there in due by. what's your reaction to what you're seeing? >> well, i'm telling you, i don't know how long ago this fire actually started. but that has spread so rapidly that it is very alarming to me, first off. just looking at this from a securities standpoint. i'm not clear how a fire could spread that quickly to the entire side of a hotel. so, you know, my concern here is not only for the people that are inside and those people that may

be celebrating in and around that hotel and evacuating those people. but in the chance that this could be related to some type of a terrorst incident, as people evacuate, you know, you have to try to keep the security awareness on the outside because of the date this is, the fact that celebrations are going on. this is looking absolutely horrific. this literally seems to be ungulfing this building fast. >> are these pictures live or are they from moments ago? okay, these are actually live pictures. we're seeing part of the midsection here of the address hotel. jonathan, we're being told that -- just to keep in mind for our see erviewers, this is a 63 luxury hotel. a skyscraper in downtown dubai. we're hearing from authorities this may have started on the 20th floor. what does that tell you?

>> well, that doesn't tell me too much. i was reading a report just a moment ago, said it started from the outside of the hotel. that is interesting to me. i'm not exactly sure what they meant by that when they reported it. but, you know, it's hard to tell because i don't know the structure of this building. the 20th floor or where it started, is that a lobby area? there's certain hotels and residents where you actually get into the elevator at the bottom and you go up to a certain floor to actually go into the lobby. so i'm not sure how the layout is in this particular building. but that could be saying a lot about where the fire started and if it was something that was nefarious how people had access into that area. this is, you know, look one of the things about the united states is we have codes, fire codes, the way things are built. what i'm seeing in this particular picture that we're looking at is that a couple of

things may have happened. either this building is built out of stuff that is just very flammable or something has caused this big of a fire to spread very rapidly because i'm not seeing regular types of things that would calm this fire down working whatsoever. this is spreading very rapidly. >> so when you raise the question of -- i just need to be very clear here. we have no reason at this point to believe that this is terror related. but this is also something that just happened not too long ago. my understanding, jonathan, what we're piecing together from one of the witnesses who is in the hotel when this happened. she said she first saw flames and smoke at about 9:35. so now it's an hour later there in dubai and just in the course of an hour you can see just how much this has grown up. what she says now is the entire side of this 63 story building. so, again, just to be clear,

talking about the issue of whether this could be terrorism related that is nothing confirmed. but why is that something you would raise, jonathan, as a concern? simply because of how quickly this has accelerated if. >> you know, part of it has to do with the fact that i live in new york city and the fire department here is the greatest in the world and they respond and handle these fires in a very aggressive manner. so this has been an hour. it looks as though the fire was absolutely not contained and it's grown, you know, exponentially worse -- >> i'm sorry to interrupt you. stay with us. because actually i need to bring in another guest, josh gatlin, he is an american there in dubai just visiting, he was 200 feet away from the address hotel when the fire broke out. josh, tell us what you saw. just explain to us the scene from the beginning of when you realized there was something wrong.

>> well, apparently what we heard a million other people are doing, that's waiting for the fireworks. and actually the only reason why i turned around is i felt the heat on my back, and about that time noticed everybody running to the railing. and turned around and saw, you know, what ya'll are seeing pictures of. and my -- within ten seconds, it went from, wow, that's a fire, to we need to not be where we are and we need to be moving away from that. because it went from, hey, there's a fire, to, yeah, that's significant. in a matter of seconds. >> in a matter of seconds. so you didn't hear anything, you just felt the heat from the fire. you didn't hear any sort of explosion or anything audible -- >> no, ma'am, no, ma'am. >> i just want to -- i know you obviously are familiar with the bunch khalifa. that is a nearby skyscraper,

it's actually the tallest skyscraper in the world there in dubai, you've probably seen it. okay, so how long ago, josh, did this happen? >> golly, it's been a little hectic here for the last let's say hour. it could have been, you know, 50 minutes ago or an hour and ten minutes ago. it's hard to know time. i can tell you i heard your previous guest talking about containment. i certainly wouldn't want to speculate on how the authorities are moving in or not moving in. i can tell you, though, with a reported 1 million, you know, extra people in town, it's not like it just happened on a lazy, you know, thursday afternoon. this is would be of the biggest events in the world for a new ye year's eve event. i cannot imagine the amount of effort it took just to get people out of the way in order to get authorities in.

so, again, i'm not going to speculate on the logistics of that. just from what i saw, it was an enormous task just to get to the scene. >> so, are you -- where are you now? are you in a place where you can see this? >> i'm about a block away. and, yes, i'm in a place where i can see it. it's a little -- it looked like to me the fire went up in the middle of the building. the side from the outside of the building. it's -- looked like it dissipated a little bit. only at least open the outside. only because it looked like it had burned everything it could burn. it looked like it was maybe settling down a little bit. and then all of a sudden, it kind of -- it kind of started spreading a little bit to the left. like i said, i thought, hey, this is contained. all of a sudden, it just started moving around the building. i looked at my wife and said, it's not going to stop until it

goes all the way around the building. it's going to keep burning until it has nothing left to burn. that's what it looked to me. not to be overdramatic. that's what it looked like to one casual observer. >> no, certainly, we're looking at the pictures and they are dramatic. there's no other way to put it. especially with so many other people you know were inside. our hope is they've been evacuated. we just don't know at this point in time as authorities respond. josh, tell me about the scene sort of underneath the building. you're one block away. this is the area where people are gathering to look at fireworks, right? when this broke out, our understanding is they were just about 2 1/2 hours from midnight and people were already there, staking out there positions to watch the show. >> people have been staking out there positions since 7:00. because i was one of them. but so yes, there were people all around this place since 7:00 a.m. this morning.

and so yes, it's been -- it's been orderly. on the way in. and it was -- it was oddly orderly on the way out. there was a little bit confusion, kind of stay or go at first. but that became pretty clear. i believe -- again, i was -- by the time everyone really started evacuating, my wife and i and one other friend, we had already started making our way towards the exit. we exited towards a parking garage with debris, ash, coming down. security guards actually wanted us to stay in the garage at first for fear we would be hit by debris. sometimes instinct takes over and i said, you're crazy if you think you're keeping me in this garage, we're out of here. we left and we got away from harm's way. it was not a mad dash.

it was not a sprint. people were pretty orderly. helping one another. helping kids with strollers. obviously, the scene you would imagine, people crying and people praying. you have so many cultures. really just this collection of culture and religion. and people praying. people putting hands on one another's shoulders saying, it's going to be okay. and that's what we saw. that's what we see. >> you talked about the debris, the ash, the siding that was coming down. tell us more about that. i mean, what did the debris look like? was it completely charred? could you make out what it was? >> i don't know. it looked like any kind of just building material. not heavy material -- >> josh, i'm really sorry to interrupt you. can you stay with us? i need to -- i'm going to switch over real quick to talk to -- we

want to come back to you. definitely stay with us. i want to talk to jacqueline. she's a cnn espanol correspondent. she was on the terrace when she was evacuated. she is on the phone now from dubai. set the scene for us. tell us as we're looking now at these pictures of the flames now going -- it looks now it's almost starting to go around the entire hotel. >> hi, brianna, can you hear me? >> yes, jacqueline, i can. can you tell us what you've seen? >> yes, we were there, waiting for the fireworks spectacular that was going to take place at burj khalifa. we had heard an explosion. people around us didn't really quite know what was going on. we thought maybe people were already preparing for the firework spectacular it suddenly

you saw people screaming and running. and some people in the terrace, in the area where we had made reservations were kind of looking around. because we weren't thinking the hotel address, you know, that -- a lot of us had to turn our backs. they started evacuating people who were around the terrace because they started seeing some of the debris beginning to fall. the authorities got there in a matter of minutes. they started letting a lot of the people who were out on the terrace, asking them to please evacuate. i know that there was a language barrier because there were a lot of tourists and they were speaking in a language that a lot people didn't know, arab, so a lot of people were just kind of wondering, confused, because they really didn't know what was going on. except about a couple minutes, maybe about 15 to 20 minutes, to

actually get everybody to start listening, you know, evacuating from the terrace. everybody was cooperating. but a lot of people were confused because, you know, it was just two hours before the new year's fireworks that everybody was waiting for. so right now, authorities have evacuated everybody that was in that area. they've also evacuated most of the dubai mall, the biggest mall in the world. they're making us walk right now through the parking structure, out to the street, and they're asking everybody to evacuate. i had a chance to ask one of the officials here. he's with dubai police. to see if there was still going to be any fireworks shows. he says right now they haven't said anything. people are just waiting. there's a lot of tourists here. a lot of residents. a lot of families. a lot of these families were scared. many of the children were

crying. just because they started seeing a lot of people run inside the dubai mall because we really didn't know what was going on. the building had caught on fire but we didn't know much of what was going on. so now we're being evacuated from the dubai mall, heading out to the street, and that's all we really know at this time. >> just set the scene for people who are not familiar with this hotel. is the dubai mall attached to the hotel? is this part of the hotel? >> no, it's like a promenade area. so the dubai mall is separate. but by the dubai mall, there's a lot of restaurants attached outside the patio. so the building that caught on fire is just one of many buildings. so this building i would say is directly across from the burj

khalifa, right across from the water fountain where they have a big water fountain spectacular, and many of the restaurants and other buildings are surrounded it. the dubai mall is not connected to the address hotel. it's separate. >> jacqueline, you talked about hearing an explosion? can you tell us more about that? >> yes, you heard like a loud pop. but people really didn't know what was going on. because where i was sitting, you couldn't really see the building. you kind of had to step out a little. and then turn back to see. and then you were seeing the whole building on fire. so you heard something but a lot of people didn't know. i personally thought maybe they started the fireworks show or, you know, to test it or something. we really didn't know until somebody started screaming. they didn't scream fire because -- they screamed something else. so everybody there kind of turned around. we were a little bit confused.

people around us -- we're all american so we were, you know, asking, do you know what they're saying, you know, what's going on. until we actually turned around and saw the building had caught on fire. and then you could see the building was being consumed in a matter of seconds. that fire was big, just going so fast. i think that's why authorities started evacuating people off the terrace, off this area, because people started to fall down. right below the hotel. >> so you were on the terrace. what floor is the terrace? >> the terrace, i believe it's the ground floor, the last floor of the whole mall. the ground floor. and underneath is the garage. >> all right, so it's the ground floor. we actually talked to another woman who was also in the terrace area. so when you heard this explosion, this popping sound,

was that the first sign that there was anything the matter? or did that just draw your attention to what was already flames that you were seeing there? >> i think maybe the flames had already started. the fire. it just moved so quick. so quick. in a matter of seconds. it just started burning real quick. you know, when i turned around and saw the fire, it was a big amount, the side of the building of the hotel was on fire. by the time they evacuated everybody, that was like 20, 30 minutes, you saw this building was halfways on fire already. and this building is huge. it's one of -- it's a tall skyscraper here in downtown. it's not as big as the burj khalifa because that's the tallest one in the old, but it's pretty tall. so when you look back and you see this fire,er got scared.

you didn't know if this building was going to -- there's a lot of people underneath, because we were in the terrace area. >> yeah, i mean, to see these pictures is to stunned. the size of this hotel, hundreds and hundreds of motel rooms. there's residents. there's a mall. there's half a dozen restaurants. this is a giant hotel complex, jacqueline, that you're talking about. set the scene for us where you are, what the people around you are doing. also if you're seeing any debris. >> no, we're not seeing any debris here. they took us through a side door, an emergency exit. they started pointing people in different directions. there was an emergency -- two emergency exits in this direction. there was one on the right, one on the left. people started evacuating on both sides. this is a huge mall, brianna.

i've been here for the last couple days, two days, and i haven't had a chance to walk this whole entire mall. so right now just walking to evacuate, it takes time. i would say this hallway, it probably takes about 20, 25 minute walk. it's a pretty long walkway. where we're walking through is actually the parking garage. you see a lot of people starting to drive away. i had a chance to talk to some tourists here. and they were still going to head on outside around downtown area to see if there was still going to be a fireworks spectacular in about an hour and 15 minutes. because it's already, what, 10:45 here in dubai. so right now, people are still evacuating. there was a lot of children. a lot of children were crying. they were scared. there was a lot of confusion.

if you weren't outside in the promenade and you just saw authorities rush in from the mall, going outside to the terrace, the people were just scared. and we in an area where you can see in a little bit from inside the mall. so people were just scared. because they really kind know what was going on. people didn't know there was a building on fire. people outside on the terrace were being evacuated. were letting the other people inside the mall know there was a structure fire. >> i think the concern when we talk about this hotel is that there are a number of guests there. there are residences here. now we're seeing such a large chunk of this huge hotel engulfed so quickly in flames. the big concern is going to be if they were able to get

everybody out in time. have you been able to bump into anyone who was in an apartment or in a hotel room? >> no. i haven't had a chance to talk to anybody. the area where we were was mostly all tourists and also residents. the people who were out on the terrace had made reservations at the restaurant. so you can see the fireworks spectacular show over at burj khalifa so most of the people out there had made reservations. so if you didn't make a reservation, you weren't allowed in this area, in this terrace area. i had a chance to talk to the manager from the restaurant where we had made reservations. he said this is the second year where they've actually closed it off. and if you don't make reservations and you didn't have a wrist band, you're not allowed to go to the terrace area because a couple years back, it was just too many people and it was more of a safety precaution.

so the way they did it, i would say it was very good, because people started listening. people started evacuating. whether you knew the language or not, people were cooperating, people were helping each other. you saw some families helping other families with children. because everything was happening so quick. so these parents were scared for their children. a lot of the children were screaming and crying. you saw that everybody was kind of trying to get. everybody away from the fire. >> so if you did not have a ticket for this event to be out in the terrace, you were mainly inside the mall and that's where a lot of people started seeing the pop outside on the terrace just run inside the mall and everybody was confused. it caused a little bit of commotion because the people didn't know what was going on. they weren't here shopping. most of the stores were going to be open until midnight.

walking through this hallway i'm seeing that some of the stores in the mall are still open. i don't know it if they are going to be open or waiting for authorities to let them know. and like i said, this mall is huge. i have seen not a lot of activity where i'm at. >> jacqueline, stay with us. i want to go. back to josh now. he's an american who is visiting there in dubai. josh, tell us where you are a the this point in time and what you can sigh. earlier we spoke and you were a block away and were able to see the flames there at the hotel. >> that's right. it's kind of obstructed right now with so much smoke. i can still see the flames a little bit lower. >> i think we might have lost

josh. josh, can you hear me? unfortunately, we have lost josh. jacqueline, are you still with me? wrp just talking to a couple people there. that gives you a sense of how big this hotel is that just in the course of this there have been a number of people including one of our own cnn reporters who was there for the celebrations there at a restaurant waiting to see the fireworks, which are about to take place here in about an hour and eight minutes they were schedule d. with don't know what the plan is now. just to reset this, for our viewers just turning in this is a huge hotel in downtown dubai in the elm rats. and this is a very busy city on a very busy night where they are expecting upwards of a million people to be coming in for fireworks that were to take place not far from president the address hotel you see on your screen is now engulf ed in

flames. the fireworks display, which is the big. est skyscraper, biggest artificial structure in the world. you probably would recognize it if you see it. this hotel is really in the s shadow of that hotel. so people had gathered down in the streets to wash the fireworks. this hotel with 63 stories has hundreds of hotel rooms. more half a dozen restaurants a giant mall there. and people had reserved tables at the restaurant so they could then get a view of the fireworks set to take place here in less than an hour in dubai. so this was a giant sort of gathering of people. you can imagine a huge city on new year's eve. and many had come into the area. we don't know the cause of the fire. we did hear from our reporter on the ground who had been at a restaurant that she heard what sounded like a popping sound and that's what first drew her attention to the fire at the

address hotel. but what she also said was she thought she heard this, ploegs, but she thought the fire had already begun engulfing the hotel. she described a scene where a lot of people didn't know what was going on. we heard from a number of folk who is have called in that were there that there was an orderly evacuation. e we don't know from higherer floors up, and that's what we're trying to get information about. there was some confusion because the language barrier and instructions were being given. this is a huge multiculture crowd. people coming from all over the world. people in dubai, who had friends coming in. americans who we have spoken with. and i do want to tell you we're just getting word from -- this is come iing in from the governt there in dubai. they say the new year's celebration are going to continue as scheduled.

so they are expecting that to take place in about an hour and five minutes. we do want to say the dubai media office is reporting the fire is not spreading inside the hotel due to the internal fire extinguishers. that's good news. maybe what we're seeing is the worst of it and this is a fire that is crawling up and has crawled up really the outside of this massive hotel. this skyscraper of a hotel. a lot of the damage is on the outside and not on the inside because they have fire measures, sprinklers that are putting out the fire inside. we're still trying to get more information here. i do want to bring in a terrorism expert, ken robinson. certainly at this point everyone is on edge going into new year's eve. people are worried there could be some sort of attack. i want to caution we know nothing about that being related to what we're seeing now.

that's really the concern of officials that either way this is a giant -- this is really a huge thing that officials there in. dubai are undertaking. >> right now, it's a tragedy. and i'm standing at the saudi hospital in dubai at the emergency room. there are multiple gurneys and staff standing by to receive. so far no burn victims have come. this is one of the largest hospitals in dubai. there's been over a million people merge in here over the last 48 hours. the decision that was just made by the government to continue with the fireworks is a wise one because we don't want to crowd the streets with people leaving. they are doing that more to keep people in place than they are because they want to celebrate new year's eve. they are making a wise decision of controlling the public. >> that's an interesting point.

a lot of people would look at that addition and say this is happening in downtown. why are they going on with that. so you're in dubai. i u know you just had surgery done there at the hospital. so you know that people are ond standby and you're driving that scene. have any victims been brought, you say no burn. victims have been brought? >> not here and not now. we're close. this is a very large hospital and they are on alert. staff is standing by here in the emergency room. i'm standing out in the parking lot in front where the emergency vehicles would come. i have heard emergency vehicles heading toward the hotel, but i haven't seen anything come yet here. >> ken, standby for me. i want to bring in glen corbett, a tactical fire ex. pert joining us on the phone. you're seeing these pictures. tell us what you're looking at. >> thanks for having me. this is a fire that obviously is beyond the control of any fire

department. it appears to me to be one in which obviously the exterior of the building you see large flames from around the various floors. so the entire height of the building which leads me to believe the exterior surface played a big role. we have had fires like this in recent years. the exterior materials are used for finishing purposes and actually create situations where you can have a massive fire like this. >> we heard from authorities they say this is actually an external fire and that some of the -- or all of the sprinklers on the inside are really keeping the flames at bay inside of the building. is that what you would expect? >> i would hope so. the thing is with the sprinkler system, they are usually not designed for such a magnitude of

fire we're seeing here. usually sprinkler systems end up operating maybe 30 heads tops. i'm sure there's probably 40 stories of fire here. there's probably at least a few hundred sprinkler heads trying to do the job. the best thing they can do is apply water to the system because that's the only thing thaps going to present it from spreading throughout the rest of the building. >> you expect that. real quick, what material would this building mabe made out of that it would be so flammable and this fire so fast moving? >> basically, the building itself is probably steel and concrete, but the synthetic materials can cause a situation like this. >> glen corbett, thank you so much for joining us. just to reset for our viewers. you're looking at one of the larger hotels in dubai. this is a skyscraper, over 300

meters tall. a large portion of it engulfed in flames. this is a place with hundreds of residents and hotels. we're going to continue to monitor this breaking news here in the time ahead. this is it for me. our live coverage will continue with fredricka whitfield. thank you so much, brianna keilar. i want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. we're following breaking news right now. extraordinary images on your screen. huge and potentially deadly fire engulfing a luxury hotel there. thooz pictures show the address hotel in dubai at towering skyscraper 63 stories high u. the fire u starting on the 20th floor according to eyewitnesss. the flames then moving very rapidly upward. as you e see there, some reports indicating flames from the nd