>> and happy canada day for all our canadian viewers. happy 95th birthday to my step dad as well. thanks for watching "legal view." brianna is in for wolf. she starts right now. m hi, there. i'm brianna keilar in for wolf blitzer. we are following several big stories and waiting to hear from donald trump. the republican presumptive presidential nominee is expecting to take the stage. he is under fire for his stance on trade. we will take you there live when he takes the stage. attorney general, loretta lynch, said she wouldn't have an active role in generating findings into the investigation into hillary clinton's e-mails. speaking today in aspen, colorado, lynch said that

decision was made months ago before she came under fire after an informal meeting with former president bill clinton earlier this week at an airport in phoenix. >> i certainly wouldn't do it again. because i think it has cast a shadow over what it should not, over what it will not touch. >> lynch says she will let career agents put together recommendations and accept them. >> we are watching developments into the istanbul airport terror attack. we are learning more about the identities of the suicide bombers and about this man, a chechnyan known as akhmed one-arm. he is a well-known terrorist on the watch list and a top soldier in the isis war ministry. >> they have had this long history of engagement throughout this entire region in terrorist activities. they had plenl they had pledged to al qaeda,

fought for the taliban and fighting for isis. they tend to like to be at the front end of this fight. this is somebody that had been wounded along the process of all of that fighting and taken some stature in the organization as somebody who had leadership qualities and capabilities. >> it is believed the three attackers made their way from syria to turkey and carried their weapons and suicide vests with them across the border. the attack bears the signature of isis. the terror group has not claimed responsibility. we'll have more later in the hour. >> let's begin with the race for the white house. any moment now, donald trump is expected to speak in denver. this is his first time campaigning in his state. his appearance comes about an hour after attorney general loretta lynch spoke from aspen addressing that private meeting with former president bill clinton and this controversy that it stirred. >> it really was a social meeting.

it was in that regard. he spoke to me and spoke to my husband for some time on the plane and then we moved on. as i've said before, i do think that no matter how i viewed it, i understand how people view it. it is important to make it clear that that meeting with president clinton does not have a bearing on how this matter is going to be reviewed, resolved, and accepted by me. >> we heard from the white house on this just a short time ago. press secretary, josh ernst, said the result of the investigation should be completely independent of the president and the white house. cnn's sarah murray is standing by for us in denver where donald trump is expected to speak any moment. we have pamela brown live in washington. the attorney general says she understands why this meeting with bill clinton raises questions. what assurances did she give this is not going to affect the investigation into hillary clinton? >> the attorney general, loretta

lynch, did seek to alay any concerns in the investigation by saying her team of career prosecutors will ultimately decide what happens and she will accept whatever that decision is. initially, during this forum, she seemed to leave some wiggle room and then went on to say she will accept them. despite calls for her to be recused loretta lynch said, that won't happen. >> the recusal would mean i wouldn't be briefed on what the findings were or the actions going forward would be. i don't have a role in those findings or coming up with those findings or making recommendati recommendations as to how to forward, i will be briefed on it and i will be accepting their recommendations. >> lynch said she made this decision to leave the recommendations up to her team

well before this happened. it is clear she publicly announced this decision after this political fallout of this meeting with bill clinton on monday. it is unusual for an announcement like this to be made to the public. it is clear the department of justice understands the political sensitivities, the high-profile nature of this case and we heard loretta lynch saying she wouldn't do it but she didn't realize the optics of the meeting. >> certainly, she does now. that was very clear today. sarah, you there in denver waiting for donald trump to speak. this is his first time appealing directly to conservative ns that state. this could be a heavy lift for donald trump, right? >> reporter: that's right. this is an interesting state for donald trump, because he didn't really campaign here around the primaries. there are a number of factors that are still very pro ted cruz or anyone who is not donald trump. there are also anti-trump folks

that are on the agenda. one of the easiest ways for trump to get republicans to rally around him is to go after the clintons. we will looking for his response to this meeting with loretta lynch and any other comments with the clintons. other republicans that distanced themselves from trump, we'll see how his speech goes over here. >> sarah murray compete wg soin some musical performance. we're going to get back to politics in a moment. first, i want to bring you this breaking news just into cnn. shots fired in a diplomatic area in the capital of bangladesh. this is according to police. we have also heard from the u.s. embassy. they are acknowledging reports of shooting and a hostage situation in dhaka. they are telling everybody to shelter in place and to monitor the news. an unknown number of gunmen are involved. it is possible that people are

trapped. this situation unclear. the area has been cordoned off. a police officer telling cnn it could be a restaurant or a hospital. we will bring you that news as we get updates coming out of bangladesh. that situation there. donald trump is seizing on this meeting we were just talking about between bill clinton and the attorney general. he is tweeting. take a look at what happened with bill clinton. the system is totally rigged. does anybody really believe that meeting was just a coincidence? how long could this issue loom over the hillary clinton camp? we have dana bash, jacque kosinic this. and david calyen. if there is no indictment, the republicans will say, look at this little pow wow that tells

you all you need to know. >> this is a political disaster. i know you have covered the hillary clinton campaign. i am sure you are getting political fall back. the republicans trust come. if p the investigation is in the hands of law enforcement career investigators as loretta lynch said, it will be hard to question that. the fact of the matter is, to have an attorney general say that she made a mistake, which she did, in having a conversation with bill clinton, the way she did. even if it was just social, is terrible 2346789 i thi. if donald trump didn't tweet what he tweeted, it would be political malpractices. it totally feeds into the narrative that the system is rigged and the plclintons think they are above it all. fair or not, appearances are everything and specially on an issue so sensitive like his wife

potentially being indicted. >> i thought jonathan kapart who was interviewing loretta lynch had a great question when she said, you have this long p relationship with bill clinton. couldn't you have said, get off my plane? >> she laughed at that and went back to the same thing. she said she wouldn't do it again and clearly she says it cast a shadow. she said it cast a shadow on what is supposed to be an independent investigation. why not recuse yourself? she said she is not going to recuse herself entirely because she wouldn't get a briefing? john ashcroft did recuse himself entirely from the cia investigation into karl rove. i would imagine you are going to

hear more from republicans on that. >> the idea when congress comes back, they are not going to take advantage of this and hammer it and maybe have hearings about it? you never know. they have really shown a willingness to take this to the clintons over and over and over again. this isn't going away until november. i would not be surprised whether or not this case is formally put to bed or not. >> i want to talk about something else. a controversy recording donald trump and something that was said. it was more what a woman in his audience said yesterday and how he responded to it. >> why aren't we putting our military retirees on that border or in tsa? >> get rid of all these hibijabis they wear. we need the veterans back in there. they have fought for this country and they will still do it. >> we are looking at that. >> to be clear, the woman in the

audience is talking about the hijab, the traditional head s r scarf. he doesn't use this p he said obama was an arab and john mccain said, no, no, he is not. that didn't hurt him for pushing back on that part of his party. as you watch these, those are my observations. what are yours? >> this could be a teachable moment where trump could show the republicans still skeptical that he is turning the corner and making the pivot. in donald trump does not have a teleprompter, he goes back to donald trump of the primary. we have seen it over and over. if he is presented with something that he could push back, he just doesn't. it shows how he is. politicians know in their core you have to responsible to that.

>> i saw him struggling -- almost like donald trump would wish for a teleprompter. he seemed to be caught between the teleprompter donald trump and the free-wheeling donald trump, because he seemed not to know how to deal with it. it begs the follow-up question. looking into what? is he actually looking into a policy where muslims are not allowed to be tsa officers? he will have to resolve that. he was understated in tone and trying not to have this moment. when you are stuck in that, i'm not embracing it and i'm not rejecting it. it leaves you wide open to this kind of criticism. this has been a hallmark of donald trump's primary campaign. it was very raucous, sometimes interactive and sometimes it was interactive in a way that was inappropriate. there were a few times i remember people asking donald trump, why didn't you correct a

voter on "x," "y," or "z." the answer was, it's not my job. >> thank you all. we want to get back to breaking news. shots have been fired in a diplomate tiff area of the capital of bangladesh according to police. we have also just heard from the u.s. embassy. they are acknowledging that there are these reports of shooting and reports of a hostage situation in dhaka and they are telling everybody to shelter in place. they are telling people to monitor the news there. police are saying there is an unknown number of gunmen that are involved. they say it is possible that people are trapped. the situation is still really unclear. that's what police are saying. this area has been cordoned off. there is a police officer who is telling cnn this could be a restaurant or a hospital and you are looking at pictures just in to cnn from da ta, from the capital there in bangladesh of

this situation going on a possible hostage situation, maybe in a restaurant, maybe in a hospital. the u.s. ecmbassy acknowledging that, yes, there are these reports putting credence to this idea there is some kind of shooting going on. we are working our sources and trying to get more details. >> we are actually going on the phone now to sunima uda. she is our new delhi correspondent for cnn. she is going to give us some of the latest details on this. sunima, what can you tell snus. >> reporter: the situation is so very unclear at the moment. a police officer is in the area which is stul under attack. this is a diplomatic area, where

u.n. offices are there as well. an unknown number of armed people have stormed the club and started firing. it could be a restaurant or hospital. an unknown number of people. gunmen are exchanging fire with the police. as we're talking there, the local tv stations from dhaka have been showing pictures of police officer fully geared up wearing security vests, bullet proof vests, walking toward a building. it is dark. the entire area has been cordoned off. we have been trying to contact all the sources there. as you can imagine, it has been very difficult to reach anyone at the moment. it is an on going situation. >> sumnima, we know this is on

going. it is very unclear what is happening. there are reports of a shooting. so what is the concern here. what is the significance of this being in the capital? >> reporter: what stands out right now, brianna, is the fact that this area, goshan, is an up market area where a lot of the embassies are based, cafes, restaurants. presumably, right now, there might have been a lot of foreigners there as well. we don't know how many people could be involved, how many could be trapped, how many could be held hostage at the moment. the fact that it is happening in this up-market area of dahka, that's unusual. we have been reporting on cnn, a number of attacks against bloggers, writers, eighatheists

bangladesh. this is the first time where we are seeing gunmen attack an entire neighborhood in dhaka, particularly an area like this. >> all right. stand by. we are getting new information. if i pause it is because my producer is speaking in miary. this is a hostage station where some of the embassies are housed and a lot of foreigners live. assailants are throwing grenades at police. there are hostages. they include foreigners. this is a restaurant. that is what i'm hearing in my ear right now. there had been some suggestion that this may be a hospital or a restaurant. this is a restaurant. again, a hostage situation in a very upscale neighborhood of the

capital of bangladesh p this is dhaka. we do not know who the hostage-takers are. reports of gunshots. that's something the u.s. embassy is acknowledging to us. there have been reports of gunshots fired there. there are assailants, multiple. we don't know exactly how many. we know there is more than one and they have been throwing grenades at police officers from this restaurant that they are at in dhaka. there are foreigners and hostages. we certainly don't know how many or the intention of these hostage-takers. we don't know their identity at this point. you are seeing in these pictures just coming in, there are police and other authorities on scene. i do want to bring in wesley clark, retired general. he is the former supreme commander of nato forces. we don't have a lot of

information but are getting more and more as there are these assailants throwing grenades at police. what would your concerned be? >> obviously, the local authorities have to get it under control. you seal off the area and get as many innocent bystanders out of harm's way as possible and then you have to go in and take out the assailants, whoever they are. we are going to know very soon they are associated with some kind of radical terrorist element. bangladesh has had a number of terrorists there. al qaeda used it as a base area. it was relatively quiet. they use it for staging and training and p rest and rekovry, i guess. we haven't heard a lot about isis. we have known for a decade or so there have been a lot of terrorists in bangladesh.

this would be in keeping with that. >> we heard that from our reporter there saying that a lot of time when there are attacks, they have been bloggers, writers. this seems perhaps to be different because of the neighborhood that it is in. it is in the neighborhood where there are so many embassies and there are so many foreigners. let's hope this is a case where you simply have the common criminals that decided to make a statement. the chances are this is not the case given the location. >> also, the timing. we r here in the final days of ramadan. there has been a push amongst extremist groups to create a lot of drubl during thtrouble durin. >> that's one more element that adds to the suspicion. we don't want to jump to

conclusions. we have to deal with the local situation before we talk about the implications. we are monitoring the situation. general, stay with me. i'm going to recap the situation before we go to a quick break. this is unfolding in dhaka, the capital of bangladesh. an upscale neighborhood in the capital where there are many foreigners that live there who go out to eat there it has been happening at a restaurant, a hostage situation. you see some swearing s.w.a.t. gear as they try to get a handle on the situation. we don't know the identity of the hostages. we do not know the identity or the intention of the hostage-takers. we are getting more information by the minute. are we going to break?

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>>. >> breaking news out of the diplomatic section of bangladesh, dhaka. a number of foreigners that live and social looiz theize. we are hearing that attackers are throwing grenades at police. this has become a hostage situation all taking place at a spanish restaurant there in the diplomatic section of dhaka. we know there are hostages. we don't know how many. that is unknown at this point. we don't know how many attackers are involved. we know there are multiple. we don't know their identities. the u.s. embassy is telling people to shelter in place. we are still trying to get more information. you can see this is an elite squad that's been mobilized. officers and s.w.a.t. gear.

the attackers there have been throwing grenades at police. we don't know who they are. we do know this is extremely concerning to officials. this is happening in an international area. some of the hostages are foreigners. they would have targeted if they knew foreigners are frequenting. we are here in the final days of muslim holy ramadan where a number of terrorist organizations have been emphasizing this is a time to stir up trouble and to do more attacks. i want to get to alexandra field. she is in istanbul for us. alexandra, can you shed any new light on what's going on or any thoughts about what we are seeing unfold in bangladesh?

>> we do not know who could be carrying out this attack, we have been following attacks in bangladesh for more than a year. . this began as a series of machete murderers p there were lgbt activist that is were being targeted. groups like isis and al qaeda had taken or claimed responsibility for those killings, killings happening in broad daylight in the middle of the street. it has sparked this climate of fear throughout the country. a secular country with a muslim majority. we were doing this in dhaka a few weeks ago. we were hearing about how the climate had changed. people were increasingly worried about terrorism. the government has rejected claims that isis or al qaeda are operating within its borders.

they say it is a politically motivated situation and the assailants were sent out by the opposition party. as we watch the situation unfolding right now, we do not know who is behind it. it speaks to the level of fear that people in that country are feeling about an increase in violence. i spoke to young people that said they were leaving dhaka. i spoke to lgbt activists and other secular students who said they didn't feel comfortable there anymore. they were afraid of the increasing violence and afraid of what any were calling terrorism within their borders. i am hearing from some of them. they say they are watching the situation. this is an area that is extremely crowded, very urban. it is full of cafes and restaurants. it is an ex pat sort of enclave and a diplomatic enclave. this is an area where you might be at this hour of the day to have a meal and go shopping. i am hearing from people that got on facebook right away that

something is going on. roads are closed. they are talking to their friends. they have these orders to shelter in place. there is tremendous fear and concern for people in that area right now brianna. >> alexandra, you are sensing or the suspicion of those that have been in touch. this is a continuation of the violence going on over the last year and a half. is there also a concern that because attacks in this particular neighborhood are unusual and that the venue these hostage-takers have focused in on is where there are a number of foreigner that is this would be a slightly different situation, something that is designed to capture more international attention instead of being something that is seen of more of just a local issue. >> i think you are hitting on two really important points. we do not know who is behind these attacks, whether this is

terrorism and what has motivated it exactly and precisely. you touch on two very important elements, growing climate of fear, concerns that these attacks have not been met with a stronger stance from the government, that the people who perpetrated these attacks were not being brought to justice. there were cries to find these people and bring them to justice and stop it from spreading and cut off the head of the snake. on the flip side, there is also the concern that the killings were becoming more indiscriminate while they had initially targeted these secular writers that were very prominent, the voices of the country, the intellectual. it started to target more of the bloggers, the lgbt community. you have have p undercurrent. the more liberal section of the community, the society and the community who say, wow, there is this feeling of fear here, because there is growing intolerance. can we link these machete

murders to whatever atrocious, hideous act is unfolding in dhaka? >> alexandria, stay with me. >> alexandria has recently been to bangladesh. we do have tom fuentes with us. these are pictures from moments ago. they are not live. law enforcement is telling tv reporters not to broadcast the incident live for the sake of national security interest. we are trying to resolve this issue peacefully. i want to bring in tom fuentes on the phone with me now. we see this elite force, tom, staging. what are they and other authorities trying to do? >> at the moment, they are trying to figure out what exactly is going on.

how many people are in that restaurant? what are they up against? what kind of weapons and explosives do they have? if it is true they have been throwing grenades out of the restaurant and it adds to the complications of containing this issue. they want to find out who is behind this. there is no shortage of islamic, extremist groups in bangladesh. you have isis claiming more than 20 attacks in the last year and a half. you have six or seven claimed by al qaeda in the indian sub continent in bangladesh. you have ansar al islam and the continuation of many attacks that have occurred over the last year and a half against a wide range of targets. often, in many capitals in

largely muslim countries, they allow them to serve alcohol and this increases the identity of the infidels that they may want to attack. we had four fbi agents critically hurt where an explosive was hurled over the wall of a restaurant in an outdoor patio. that's another concern that these extremist groups would be aware that many nonmuslims would be in the restaurant. during ramadan, they fast all day. after dark, these restaurants are jammed with everybody now being able to eat until the sun comes up the next day. ramadan causes these restaurants to be packed with muslims and

others that may be hosting them. >> when you hear these attackers are throwing grenades at police? what does that tell you that they want them to keep their distance basically? is that any indication they want to have communications with anymore at some distance away? >> i think what they are communicating is, we are the real deal. we are heavily armed. this is what you are going to be up against. it could end up being a suicide mission for you, law enforcement, but it could also result in the death of whatever number of hostages. again, the hostages, there is a good possibility that they will be european, american, australian diplomates who are westerners and therefore infidels that may be committed the sin of drinking alcohol. pr

was just asked about this situation. >> i'm not aware of this particular situation. we will see what we can learn and let you know if and when the president has been briefed. >> that's how new this unfolding situation is. josh earnest in the middle of his briefing yet to hear about it, obviously. he was at the podium. we do expect that the president is going to be briefed on this. normally, this happens very quickly. but he was just asked about this situation? bangladesh. on going hostage situation. pictures from the bangladesh capital. an ex pat area where there are a number of embassies, foreigners living there, socializing, working there. these hostage takers are in a restaurant with dozens of hostages, at least some of them

foreigners, and we don't know who the hostage-takers are and a number of terrorist groups have been operating out of bangladesh for some time. this is a tweet from the state department. it is saying that this is at a bakery in the diplomatic enclave. local news should be monitored. we are getting new information by the moment. we'll take a quick break and be back with more in a moment. # a long day, jen stops working, but her aleve doesn't. hey mom! because aleve can last 4 hours longer than tylenol 8 hour. what will you do with your aleve hours?

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attack that is underway in a diplomatic neighborhood inside dhaka, the capital of bangladesh. an area popular with foreign nationals. they live there, work there, cafes and restaurants they go to. we are hearing that attackers have been throwing grenades at police and at least one officer is dead. police say they are trying to calm the situation there. there is an unknown number of attackers they are dealing with. they do know they are dealing with more than one. there are dozens of hostages. they are all inside of what we believe is a spanish restaurant. there is also a tweet coming from the state department that this is a bakery. we are trying to figure out if this is a bakery restaurant or what is happening there. it is possible dozens of people are inside and trapped. the embassy is telling them they need to shelter in place.

all americans that work with the u.s. embassy, at least, have been accounted for. i want to go to istanbul in bangladesh. there was some staging for al qaeda, a base where they would train and get a little rest, not where they would necessarily operate. there was a presence for al qaeda as well as other terror groups. alexandra? >> hey, there, brianna. al qaeda and isis have both claimed credit for recent attacks where the government has continued to deny that these groups operate within their borders. what we are hearing is about this growing climate and fear about the number of attacks that have ratcheted up within the

past few months. we don't know who is behind the attack. one woman tells me she was about a five or ten-minute walk from this restaurant. she was in that neighborhood. she was stopped by police. she said that people all around her were suddenly being searched and stopped, that cars were being turned away. she describes seeing police pushing back, trying to keep people out of that area, if not setting up a formal perimeter and trying to get people back out and away from the area. she has been in touch with people in their homes heeding these orders to shelter in place as this chaotic and difficult situation continues to unfold as police try to get a grasp and handle on what's going on. she says they are simply

fearful. the orders from the state department is to shelter in place. they are waiting for answers and for all of this to come to an end. >> a very scary situation that we are seeing. we're going to let you get back to talking to your sources there in bangladesh, who can tell you what's going on in this neighborhood that is essentially under lockdown. you see police in advanced gear, s.w.a.t. gear, head protection. these attackers inside of what is a spanish restaurant or bakery, they have been throwing grenades at police. one police officer is dead. dozens of hostages, some foreigners, inside this restaurant. i want to bring in bob baer.

>> this is unprecedented. a lot of political murder in bangladesh, never a full-on attack like this. bangladesh has traditionally been a very conservative country but secular at the same time. never has it been inspired by the islamic state or al qaeda. the bangladesh police are not prepared for military assaults. i don't know who these people are. if they are islamic-state inspired and they have military training, this is a very dire situation, specially for a country that's pretty much stadium out of the conflicts in the middle east. >> there are several hostages inside with these attackers which you are describing as a very unusual situation, not only

because it is in this part of the capital which is an area where a lot of foreigners live and work. but just because of the nature of this. these are attackers who have grenades, they are throwing them at police, they have killed an officer. this is not just an assassination we have seen a proliferation of recently. what do police need to do at this point, specially talk about some of the challenges when you are saying these are not police that are necessarily equipped to handle a big military style attack like this. >> it is a poor country. they haven't been prepared to take on something like the istanbul attackers or even the brussels attackers. the country, it is not a failed state. this sort of chaos is truly unprecedent for bangladesh to take on islamic style commando attacks, you would need to insert yourself into the situation with heavy weaponry and hostage situations, we are

surrounding a place and people are throwing grenades usually do not turn out well at the end. specially if they are targeting foreigners. this is a soft target. we have to look at it in context. the istanbul airport attack, the attacks in jordan, yemen and lebanon and afghanistan. it looks to me like there is some sort of worldwide assault going on inspired by the islamic state. we are going to have to wait and see if they have any connection with this. right now, i'll go out in a limb and say it is probably connected. we don't know that but that is certainly the concern. >> what we now know about where the hostages br being held, it is a restaurant. we do not know what kind of

restaurant this is now. we are just describing this as a restaurant. this is in a neighborhood where there would be a number of foreigners. bob, when you look at this. for instance, we are not drawing a connection at this point. we do not know. one of the reasons looking at the ataturk in airport in istanbul, a lot of people said from the very beginning this appeared to be something that had to do with isis or the group, was because this is an area where there would be a number of foreigners. we saw that from those that were killed. it tells you about something about the kind of tag get these attackers went after. >> that's why the initial attacks on istanbul.

the fact that there was automatic weaponry, attack on foreigners and also a country now i would be very surprised if this was controlled from a place like raqqa from the islamic state. seems awful far. but again, we're just going to have to wait and see. what again i don't like is all of these attacks. almost every day there is an islamic state-inspired attack, even going back to orlando. >> certainly and i think people around the world do feel like there is an assault under way. i want to bring in cnn senior law enforcement analyst tom fuentes back with us by phone. tom, we know this is a restaurant. there are numerous hostages and bob has been describing this situation where these are not necessarily -- even though this is the elite level police group, compared to, say, turkey, or compared to the u.s., this may not be a situation that law enforcement officials in this

country are really prepared to deal with. >> no, that's true. and i also agree with everything bob has just said about the probability in this case of isis. because even though there's four or five extremist groups operating in bangladesh, isis has become the bigger one. isis is the one sending worldwide messages right now to all of their followers to commit attacks, even in your home country, especially during ramadan which is still ongoing now. and also, many foreign fighters from all over asia -- west asia, north america, australia -- went to syria and iraq to learn and fight for isis, and then return home. and bangladesh has had extremists going back as far as fighting with the mujahadin in afghanistan. so they've been involved on a global basis before, and that's why it would look like in this case isis would be the likely

candidate for this type of attack. but especially many of the other attacks were locally done, bloggers and others who were killed with machetes or stabbed or beaten to death. the fact that we've already had a grenade thrown in this case indicates they have explosives. they probably have firearms and they're more heavily armed, like you would expect an isis group to be. >> tom, stay with me. i am going to come right back to you. i want to bring in jim moriarty, former u.s. ambassador to bangladesh, as well as nepal and he's with us now. you were there just two weeks ago, right? and you were the ambassador for three years. >> yes, that's right. tell us -- and can you see the pictures on our air? >> no, i'm sorry, i'm not picking them up. i'm calling on the phone. >> no problem. what we're looking at as police

were staging in this neighborhood. this is the diplomatic neighborhood i'm assuming you may have lived in, worked in and certainly are very familiar with. can you tell us about it? >> yeah. this is about -- i think it is about one-half to three-quarters of a mile away from my old residence. it's called the diplomatic enclave, but it is a very mixed area. embassies are all there, diplomatic residences are all there, but in addition you have many more bangladeshis and foreigners moving about the area. a number of very nice single-family homes, upscale restaurant. it is the epicenter of the wealth for the entire country. this being late in the evening with ramadan nearing its close, there is a lot of excitement, people out on the streets with their families, with their friends. it is actually a very joyous

time in bangladesh normally. >> if this is supposed to be a wonderful time so celebrate and meet with friends amid this sort of season, what does it tell you when you see that attackers have taken hostages in a restaurant? what is your concern and what does that signal to you? >> it tells me that they're trying to create a high-profile incident to drive home the message that they can attack any time, anywhere in bangladesh. the first of the series of attacks began in december last year. 35 or 40 people were shot to death by extremists. afterwards the government really cracked down and put a lot of security in to this area. so the attacks have all been

almost all individual attacks and outside of this diplomatic enclave. so this is trying to drive home the message that these folks can attack when they want, where they want. >> this is something different then. it is horrific when we've seen what's been going on with these hacking attacks here in the last year. but those were individual attacks and to people there on the ground, they're realizing this is something very different than these individual attacks. right? >> absolutely. this is something where, like i said, you've gone into the most heavily patrolled area in the entire country and shown that you can pull this off, that the government can't protect people at this most joyous time of year from celebrating with family and friends safely. >> ambassador moriarty, thank you so much for talking with us. the former ambassador to bangladesh and to nepal. he pass just in country there a

couple weeks ago. stand by for us because we'll come back to you here in the next hour as well. i just want to let our viewers know what is going on. this is dhaka, bangladesh, the capital. you just heard the former ambassador to bangladesh say this is a wealthy neighborhood, it is where concentration of wealth is for entire country. it is an international neighborhood as well as where a number of bangladeshis live. there is a hostage situation. they've been throwing hand grenades at police. there are a number hostages, including foreigners, inside this restaurant hold up. you see authorities there on the ground trying to figure out what's going on. there is an elite squad there. but this is a country that's been dealing with individual attacks, hacking deaths. nothing like this size, this scale. and with this military element of attackers who have been throwing grenades at police. one officer killed at this

point. and this is ongoing as officials there try to determine exactly who is responsible, who is inside with these hostage takers. we are going to -- i'm going to wrap it up here and hand it off. you're watching cnn. we'll have more breaking news of a quick break. you pay your car insurance

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switch to liberty mutual and you could save up to $509. call liberty mutual for a free quote today at see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. here we go. you're watching cnn's special live coverage. i'm brooke baldwin here in istanbul, turkey. we'll take you back to the new developments after this triple suicide bombing from a couple nights ago but major breaking news here in an ongoing hostage situation at a restaurant in lang la desylang ylanlang bangl india. we know at this time an unknown number of people, including a number of for are are iners, they are currently trapped inside this restaurant, this spanish-themed restaurant in the capital city