>> we don't know, steve, if the individual who stabbed the police officer and then himself was shot was also the individual who drove that vehicle across the bridge and ran into that fence. hold on for one moment just for a second. >> hello, i'm wolf blitzer in washington. wherever you are watching from around the world, we want to thank you so much for joining us for this cnn breaking news special coverage. breaking news coming into cnn, the british parliament is in lockdown in what local police are calling a terrorist incident until they know otherwise. for our viewers that are just tuning in, here's what we know right now. witnesses described hearing gunfire near westminster bridge in london. metropolitan police tweeted. they responded to the incident around 10:40 a.m. that would be eastern time here in the united states. a lawmaker tells cnn a car came

over the bridge, hitting pedestrians and then crashed into that gate of parliament. we are now told that dozens, repeat, dozens of people have been injured, and then what is thought to be a related incident, witnesses say, an officer was stabbed inside the parliament perimeter. the assailant was then shot by police. we don't know the condition of the assailant. here's how eyewitnesss on the scene describe what happened. >> bodies literally -- >> must have been about ten bodies. >> at least 10, 12 bodies all in -- >> lying in different places along the bridge. >> been shot. >> yes. >> it must have been terrifying. >> it was horrendous. absolutely horrendous. >> the british prime minister theresa may has herself been evacuated from parliament, which was in session. president trump at the white

hou house, he has been briefed on the situation by the national security advisor lieutenant general mcmaster, and he had a very brief comment. listen to president trump. >> sir, we are just getting an update on london. some big news with london that just happened. >> something new just happened, he said. i want to bring in our international diplomatic editor nick robertson. he is right near this scene. i know, nick, that police have moved you several times now. tell us where you are, what you are seeing. i assume the lockdown is still in effect. >> wolf, lockdown is still in effect. you can see behind me big ben, the parliament building. they're just to the side of big ben. that's where the incident took place. very reassuringly for the people of london here just a few minutes ago as we started this hour. so, too, big ben chimed in the hour. that would be very reassuring

for people here, wolf. there is continuity amid the chaos that's at the foot of this iconic building in london. we do have new information here, and it's coming in from the london ambulance service. the london ambulance service says it's declaring a major incident. we have declared a major incident, and our priority is to assess patients and assure that they are treated and taken to hospital as soon as possible. according to the statement from the london ambulance service, that's what they're saying. also additional information, wolf. they are saying they were called at 2:40 p.m. local time london, 10:40 a.m. on the east coast there, to westminster bridge, to report an incident with the first crew arriving within six minutes. they were there, the ambulances, on scene within six minutes. again, more details here. we have sent a number of resources to the scene. we were talking about seeing that before.

and our hazardous area response team. it's not sure if they believe there were hazardous materials involved in the scene. clearly sending it as a precaution. potentially dwoent know at this time what the police are discovering. the ambulance service saying they have sent their hazardous area response team in. they say that they're working closely with the other members of emergency services on the scene. priority being to treat those patients who need medical help. at this time, wolf, they're not giving any numbers of the casualties. we're not giving any of the conditions of the casualties. merely an update that they are now declaring this a major incident, wolf. this is a very, very significant and somber event. >> do we know, nick, if the individual who stabbed the police officer and then was shot by police is the same person who drove the vehicle across the bridge running over those people? >> wolf, it just isn't clear at

this stage. at the moment the police we're in touch with are merely interested in securing the scene, pushing back onlookers. details are not coming to us on the ground at the moment, so that remains unclear at this time, wolf. >> we don't know if this was one individual or if there were more than one individual, but the information you are getting and correct me if i'm wrong, nick, are there multiple casualties, right? >> absolutely. multiple casualties. the air service describing it as a major incident in their priority. they literally just declared it a major incident. clearly still dealing with that significant number of casualties. this is an iconic landmark in london. we've talked about this already. it has long been a concern of the security services that it could become a target. at the moment the police are saying at the moment describing it as a terror incident until they get further information. there has been that concern that it could be a target of such an

incident, and that's why security around the building is -- has been strengthened in recent years. that's why there are armed police and barricades. that's why cars can no longer get close to the building. this one was prevented by the fence and by the wall itself. this building has been secured to the best of the abilities of the authorities so far, but, again, those precise details of how many people were involved in the attack, was it just that one person, or were there more people involved? those details are yet to be made clear to us, wolf. may not yet be entirely clear to the investigating authorities either. >> the incident occurred at 2:40 p.m. local time in london. it's now 4:06. >> this lockdown continues. i'm going to get back to you. i want to bring in a member of parliament who is joining us. he is on lockdown.

>> i would gets there are 300 members of parliament here at the moment, and we've just been told by the deputy speaker that we are going to be removed from the chamber in groups of 20. that's the current situation for us. >> removed to where? >> well, i'm not sure about that. we haven't been told that. i don't know whether that's back to our offices or off the site as well. you probably know more than we do in actual site. >> is there any indication that they are giving you that there may be individuals still at large if, in fact, this is a terrorist incident, or is there a sense that they're doing this simply out of an abundance of caution? >> i get a sense that it's caution.

i get the sense that the police have been -- the armed police have been moving people off the estate or removing them from various offices around and about. very much protecting the central chamber where we currently are. >> so you are still there. there's about 300 members of parliament who are inside with you in the main area and in groups of 20 very soon you've been told they will start allowing some of these individuals to be relocated. they're not going to let you go home. at least not any time soon, is that your understanding? >> that's my understanding, yeah. we were just coming to vote on some pensions legislation about an hour, hour and a half ago. we went through the lobby as normal, and then there seemed a strange atmosphere. nothing was said, but then i noticed the doors to the chamber were locked so we couldn't leave

the chamber, and then it was announced by the deputy speaker that we were to remain in the chamber and that there's a lockdown. obviously the atmosphere is quite anxious, and obviously members thought so with the officer who has been injured. we're appreciative of all the help and support that the police have given us so far. >> how long have you been a member of parliament, and have you seen anything like this during your years in parliament? >> no, i haven't. i was elected in 2010, so nearly seven years, and i have never known anything like this. i mean, you can't underestimate the effort that's put into security in parliament. it's quite discreet, but nevertheless, you are always aware that there are armed police officers around, and a lot of effort is put into it, and it's a very well guarded institution, as you might expect. i get a sense from the news reports that i have been able to see from where i am that

everything is put into place and the police are doing their job that you would expect them to do. it's not an easy job. i readily accept that. our thoughts are with the officers that are protecting as of this moment. >> we know at least one police officer there in parliament was stabbed by this individual who, in turn, was shot by other police officers, skps we don't know the extent of the other casualties, although we're getting indications from the ambulance services that it could be a significant number. simon, once they move you and your fellow parliament aararian another location, says if you could stay in touch with us, we would be grateful. >> yeah, absolutely. thank you. >> thank you, so much. simon, a member of parliament. he is right in the middle of all of this. i want to go back to our chief international analyst. christiane. i stum even as we're speaking you are getting more information on the latest developments. update our viewers where we

stand right now. >> well, we are getting information such as it is from the official sources. you have always -- you have heard, of course, from the member of parliament and some of the eyewitnesss in the last few minutes. in context, this is being treated by the metropolitan police as a terrorist incident as of this moment, and until they say they know otherwise. you heard that the ambulance service, the london ambulance service are declaring this a major incident. that is in order to really allow lots of the ambulances, lots of the resources, hospital beds, all kinds of things that are needed to respond to a major incident, to be on alert, on stand-by, and ready to react. we've already seen ambulances from overhead video taking injured away. we simply do not know the state of the casualties. we do not know the number of casualties, and crucially we do not know whether there was more than one assailant. it looks like there might have been given the description of the attacks one with a car plowing along westminster bridge into people, and another

incident of an individual stabbing a police who then responded with firearms. that is why the police are saying this is being treated as a firearms incident. what we don't know is whether those two individuals are the same. what we don't know is whether there is any other worry around the rest of this city because this city is not in lockdown as a whole. it is just that area around parliament, and roads have been closed leading to westminster bridge and to parliament square as we've been indicating since this began, but the whole city is not locked down, and as we've been saying, you know, this is a city which has so many tourists. it's a huge magnet. parliament is a huge magnet. big ben is a huge magnet. the bridge there is a huge magnet. people go and stand on that bridge in order to have the very best shot of peril i want behind them. that's where people take pictures of themselves. it is truly the ideal location for those kinds of pictures. it's a familiar bridge for cyclists and people who want to

drive across. not just pedestrians. vehicles. this is a real magnet for people. at the same time peril i want today was hosting prime minister's questions, as it does every wednesday. every major political leader would have been in parliament. obviously, including the prime minister who when she was alerted by what happened, we're told by officials, was bundled out, and we're not sure why where she is at the moment, but we're told she's safe. what we know is that britain over the last several years, two years or so, officials say they have thwarted about a dozen, 10 to 12 potentially major incidents over the last two years. they have said to us over and over again and recently in the press, that please be aware, please be alert. you know, in response to what's going on in europe. we've seen traffic and car incidents and truck incidents, used as weapons in france and in germany. we saw obviously the attacks in paris in 2015.

this country has been on the alert throughout. it is one of the most serveilled cities. cctv is all over the place. police are asking for anybody who captured anything either on their phones or their cameras or by whatever means to pass that to the police and crucially they are also asking people to show "restrai "restraint." that is what the police are tweeting out now. please show restraint in how you share these images. they do not want them passed around for public consumption. they want them passed to the police to fill in this puzzle. wolf. >> we're just getting this word in from local authorities, christiane. official word now. one dead. many hurt. we don't know -- you are on the scene near parliament. what else are you hearing?

>> wolf, what we've been seeing here on the scene. where i'm standing now is on a road known as white hall. walk two minutes behind me, and we'll get to parliament. that's where we started off after all of this was supposed to be clear. what we've been seeing is as police have been trying to clear the area of the huge crowds, what you see behind me is a very eerie sight. white hall is never this empty. it's a prime tourist location and the prime spot for government. as we've been pushing the crowds out, the government workers, the tourists, the journalists, the people who occupy this zone, what we've been seeing, ambulances moving in and out at great speed. we know that an air ambulance responded. i saw it land in the middle of parliament square. what we have here is still a sense of an ongoing police operation. what you see behind me, you can see big ben, i believe, to the corner. gives you a sense of just how close we are, just where we are standing. when we first arrived, we saw

the initial wave of police and security forces arrive here. there were multiple police, multiple ambulances, cars, and so forth. as we've been talking about, british police famously do not for the most part carry firearms. there's no doubt they would have been there. we've been seeing even more of them in the hour or so since all of this was first declared. the operation is in terms of clearing the area because there were simply so many people here. you can't overstate just how crowded this is on a working day. how pap lar it is with tourists. i know we've been talking about the immediate parliament square area of westminster bridge because it is such an iconic building. members of the public do have access to the building itself to witness the events going on in parliament, to conduct official tours of the parliamentary building.

just an kbreerdly busy scene in which all of this has taken place. when police first arrived on the scene, as i say, we saw those first arrivals, their immediate concern was simply clearing the huge crowds from the area. as we've been hearing about more casualties and witnessing the arrivals and departures of fast-moving ambulances,ing which certainly back that up, then primary concern has been getting people out of the way and obviously determining to what extent there may be an ongoing threat in this location. weesh not seeing anything to suggest that. as i know you have been talking about, there is still a great many questions about just what took place here, how many people were involved and so forth. at the moment it is calm, but locked down, and everything that we're seeing suggests that a number of people have been hurt

here today, and as i understand, the confirmation so far is multiple casualties with at least one person killed. . >> very quickly, phil, i have seen a lot of police. have you seen any military response, british military response to the scene? >> no. nothing to constituting that at all. heavily armed police, beth those that would ordinarily patrol this particular district of london and others moving in in vehicles at speed as well. that would be the standard response. they are the primary first responders to any sort of incident, security incident like this on the streets of the capital. wolf. >> stand by. i know you're working your sources as well. paul is joining us, our terror analyst. they're treating this as a terror incident, at least as of now. that's what authorities in london are saying. you have been monitoring all the social media web sites. have you received any indications, is anyone out there claiming responsibility for

this? >> a lot of excitement on the jihady w y jihadi web sites, social feed that this could be a jihadi that was responsible. we have no indication of that yesterday at this point. the working assumption is this was a terrorist attack, a multi-phase or a multi-pronged terrorist attack right at the heart of london involving a vehicle ramming and, of course, we've seen those kind of attacks in nice where 86 people were killed last year, and more recently in berlin where 12 people were killed. that has been an effective tactic by people who have been inspired or communicating with isis. the other thing isis has been trying to do is not just launch the attacks, but also to then go on and to shoot people or stab people. it's quite possible there may be one individual involved here. we don't know at this stage how many individuals may have been

involved. this has been treated enormously seriously. this is the first major attack that's got through since the london bombings back in 2005. over the last few months british counterterrorism officials have been speaking to me and have been speaking about the threat to the u.k. in very stark terms saying bigger than it's ever been in the modern history of britain. they're dealing with unprecedented threats. not only from isis, but also from other british individuals. also, people inspired by isis and a good number who are communicating with isis by encrypted apps. some are sending messages and instructions to launch attacks back in the u.k. that's been a huge part of the recent threat stream in europe, wolf.

remains to be seen what this all is, but at this early hour, it has many of the hallmarks, at least, of some kind of isis link or jihadi link attack in london. >> and one of the reasons for that, why local authorities, metropolitan police in london, are at least as of now considering this a terror attack, a terrorist incident. they're treating it as such. it's because there have been many communiques out there from these various jihadi groups. if you don't have a gun, get a knife. you don't have a knife, get a car. just start going out there to kill people. that's been the basic message. we've heard that now for the past few years, right? >> that's absolutely right, wolf. the more they've got these sort of attacks through in nice and berlin, and there was even an attacker in the united states at ohio state last november which was also inspired by isis. the more these attacks are killing people, the more people are inspired by this and are going to try and do it, and isis

really right now there's a steady drumbeat from them calling for these kinds of attacks. you wi all you basically need is a vehicle, and you can, unfortunately, kill a lot of people. security services on both sides of the atlantic are just really concerned about this threat stream. particularly, in the u.k. because in the u.k. there's much less access to firearms. there hasn't been this big threat of a ak-47 style attack that you have seen in europe. that is a plot to rely on other means, and, of course, a car can be very deadly. >> stand by. i want to bring in will. he is a national security and terrorism expert.

>> it's inevitable to a certain degree that we were anticipating an attack on some kind of scale. now, this kind of low level gorilla type lone wolf type of attack was probably the most immediately available type of tactic that could be employed by theser for an extreme jihadist group. >> we know that i avehicle driving across the bridge started ramming into people, and there are mumt reply, multiple injuries right now. as far as we know -- i don't know if you have any new information. as far as we know, no one has officially claimed responsibility for this. >> absolutely, nobody has claimed responsibility, but to pick up on a couple of points there, certainly from my sources, they're telling me they're quite confident that

they have the situation particularly in the local area contained. it was concern of multiple assailants. with regards to the blue light join up, and that's obviously between the police, the fire brigade, and obviously the ambulance service. they will be very, very cautious certainly in their tactics and drills as to who they introduce into the corridor or into the instant area until they can predict them adequately. there appear to be a number of levels to this type of attack. however, around the palace of westminster, the security and the police are incredibly well rehearsed and well practiced in anticipating this kind of threat and a number of different types of scaled attacks. i'm actually very pleased to a certain extent with the information coming through so far that the response and reaction was incredibly quick. >> fortunately, while police in london, most parts of london, walk around unarmed at the parliament, they are armed and

as a result, they dealt with that individual who stabbed a police officer. will, we're going to get back to you. i want to bring in kevin, an eyewitness to the attack. kevin, tell us where you were and what you saw. >> i don't know if you can hear me okay, but our connection does not seem to be all that great. let me try once again. tell us where you were and what you saw. >> what did you see? >> we had a car crash, and we looked out the window and thought -- then i heard a lot of shouting and people running around and a lot of commotion, and then i looked down to my left, and you saw a man force his way through a security gate.

wrestled them to the ground, and then another police officer approached. the attacker got up and walked towards them with his arm outstretched covering a weapon. i wasn't sure if it was a gun or a knife. i think it was a knife. then left a couple of seconds we heard gunfire -- a few rounds of gunfire and that's been a panic. i assume that was the armed police who patrolled parliament at all hours of the day or not. taken out the attacker. >> where are you now? are you in this lockdown? can you move? >> we're still in the same office. we're still in office. yeah, we've just been told that we can't leave here. i guess until they complete the whole security sweep of the area

to make sure that the event is over. we've just sat here trying to look out to see what we can see. everybody has been cleared. all the traffic has been cleared. all you can see is police cars. that's the only activity outside. >> it looks like they've been gated out of parliament. it looks like lookdown has been coming to an end. >> there's a lot of parliamentary staff being escorted out by the police. >> we were told earlier that there were about 300 members of parliament inside, and police have told them they will be escorted 20 at a time outside of that main parliamentary area.

it's unclear where they're being escorted to. if they're allowed to leave the areas or they're just being taken to some other secure area. do you know the answer to that? >> i don't know. >> they're certainly being walked out very, very slowly by -- gaming by police officers and, yeah, it just looks like there have been -- hang on a minute. oh, yeah. i'm sorry. i'm being told to get away from the window. it looks like they're being escorted off the premises. >> you can see people being whisked away. our international diplomatic

editor nick roberts is there for us. he is right in front of parliament. give us the latest information that you are learning. >> wolf, i was standing here. we're seeing additional ambulances come in on to the scene here. they are going through the cordon to go in. we've seen additional senior level police officers arrive in half a dozen or so black vehicles pull up. they're all getting ready to move in towards what is a crime scene. we understand that mp's will be escorted in about 20 at a time in the very short near future. they'll be escorted from the building. obviously, this is a crime scene. as it shifts from recovery and treatment of the injured obviously the priority for the investigating officers now will be to talk to all the mp's, because wherever they were, they were a potential witness for something. anyone that the police have within that cordon undoubtedly the police are going to want to speak to to get detailed information from.

for the police the location here, while this has been a huge concern that there could be a terrorist incident right here at parliament buildings, their main control center for london for a major incident is quite literally just across the bridge, across westminster bridge, and about a block further away. that's where the main incident center in london with all its monitoring, with all its communications equipment, with its ability to see what's happening from above, to be able to pull up some of the many closed-circuit security television cameras that are located in this area. they'll be able to control it, and they're very closely located. some of the officers we're seeing arriving now appear to be senior officers. quite their role, it's unclear to us at this time, wolf. the sense at the moment here is we've talked about the armed officers being right outside the house of parliament. there were armed officers earlier who were pushing the cordon back, who first told us to get away, but i think to get

a sense of how the police feel the sort of overall situation is at the moment, all the officers on this outer perimeter where we are and where we were located before, none of those officers are carrying weapons. that does seem to indicate that at least the police are not concerned or unduliy concerned about the potential for an immediate follow-on incident. we have seen them some people, one young man tried to run through the barricade and run into the area. the police immediately grabbed him, hand behind the back. moved him away. the sense here is there are no armed officers on this outer perimeter. therefore, the implication that the police feel that there is an increased threat in this vicinity, obviously armed officers still very close to the building and likely protecting the members of parliament, wolf. >> all right, nick. stand by. i want to just update our viewers who may be just tuning in here in the united states or around the world. we're following important

breaking news out of london. one dead. many individuals have been left with what are described as catastrophic injuries after police describe as a firearms incident near the parliament in london. the entire area still on lockdown. right now they're treating it as a terrorist incident until they say they know otherwise. clearly they see this as a terror incident. the entire parliament also on lockdown. dozens of members of parliament remain in the house of commons. may maybe 300. proceedings have been suspended where, let's go to our chief international correspondent christianeamanpour. we understand the prime minister theresa may, she has been removed from that entire area to some other undisclosed location. that's absolutely right. what we understand as soon as it

was apparent that an incident was underway, which is about just under two hours ago, she was immediately secured, and we hear the very latest news is that the so-called cobra group, which is the special british government, security intelligence and maybe some military as well, who come together in emergencies to discuss their reaction and their response. that is going to be meeting later this afternoon, and that is a usual procedure in these very, very unusual circumstances. important to say that the british police and intelligence and counterterrorism officials have been warning the public for many, many weeks, months, and years to expect something like this. as the fight against isis ramps up, as isis gets squeezed in its -- in racca and mosul. as isis threatens attacks all over europe. so far britain has been spared, but the intelligence were telling us that you have to be careful. they said in the last two years they have thwarted ten attacks.

as for this one, the details, assist you say, there was apparently an incident where somebody in a vehicle plowed through pedestrians on the westminster bridge, which leads from one side of the river over across to big ben and the houses of parliament. then the incident continued with an assailant stabbing a police official and then that caused police to respond with firearms. that is why the police are calling this a firearms incident. we do not know whether there's more than one assailant. we do not know whether the assailant, who was attacked, is alive or dead. we know that there was one victim killed. so far that's all we know. others, according to the press, have had catastrophic injuries. we know that the london ambulance has said that this is now what they call a major incident. they are clearing all their decks to be able to respond to the casualties from this incident. whether it's ambulances, whether it's hospital beds, whether it's doctors and emergency room staff to be able to deal with this. britain is perhaps and london for sure one of the most heavily

surveiled cities in the world. there are cc tv cameras everywhere, says and you can imagine there will be more around the center of british government, which is whitehall, downing street, parliament, big ben. all those areas, which is the focus of what's happened this afternoon, and which is still on lockdown. that's the only part of the city that is on lockdown. the rest of the city, as you can see behind me, and we're not far away, is going ahead as usual. now, very importantly and it must be said that britain responds to these incidents extremely efficiently and extremely well. parliament has armed guards. it also has very, very heavy security x-rays and other kind of body metalled and other weapons detectors for people going in. members of parliament who, as you just reported, are beginning apparently to be escorted out by police. there were some 300 under lockdown for more than an hour there. we've heard already members of parliament tweeting out in typical british fighting spirit

that we cannot be -- we must convene parliament again this afternoon if possible. that's how they're dealing with it here. wolf, that's about as much as we know right now. >> we'll know a little bit more momentarily. we're told scotland yard it about to have a briefing for reporters. we, of course, will have live coverage of that. the first official on camera reports. we're going to have live coverage of that scotland yard news conference. clarissa ward, who lives in london, is with me here right now. we have to emphasize, this is such a powerful tourist attraction, this area, that westminster bridge, and if it was, in fact, a terror incident, someone tried to disrupt life in london in this major international capital. that would be the target. >>. >> it would certainly be an obvious target to go for. i think you heard christiane say earlier on that tourists literally compete and jockey for

position on that bridge because it is where you get the most beautiful shots of the houses of parliament. it's always a nightmare as a londoner when you actually have to physically cross that bridge because it is so very, very crowded. not only that, but think about the symbolism here for a moment. this is the beating heart of the united kingdom. this is the seat of power. this is where parliamentarians are meeting. this is where politicians are going. this is where many government buildings are located. on top of that you have tourists. on top of that you have schools and universities in the area. it's an incredibly crowded area. it's an incredibly important area, and i think potentially what you are seeing here is the damage that can be done by as few as potentially one individual and, as i said, we do not know how many people were involved in this attack yet. it is possible that there were two or even more. you understand what authorities are up against here. it takes potentially a very small group of people to

implement a lot of damage. so far all we know is according to the british press association that one woman has been killed, but multiple casualties, and as you are seeing in these images that are playing out, the beating heart of london, of the u.k. on lockdown, and, of course, you are seeing a spirit of resillance in spite of this, but certainly it is chilling for anyone who has ever spent anyone -- any time in london to witness scenes like this. >> we're just gettingclarissa, mayor of london. let me read this statement. i'm quoting here now. there has been a serious incident near to parliament square this afternoon, which is being treated as a terrorist attack until the police know otherwise. the mayor continues. i have spoken to the acting commissioner. the metropolitan police services dealing with the incident and an urgent investigation is underway. my thoughts are with those affected and their families.

he adds this. my thanks to police and emergency services who work so hard to keep us safe and show tremendous bravery in exceptionally difficult circumstances. he says for the latest information, visit news.net.police. news.net.police.uk for more information. i assume a lot of people all over the world are going to be going to that website. i assume you have met the new mayor of london. this is obviously a very serious situation. i haven't medicine sadit khan personally. he is the first muslim mayor of london. a very popular mayor. of course, you know, he is going to be taking an active role in cautioning people tobz villages laboratory about the situation, but also to try to calm the situation. the british mentality, as i think christiane touched upon before, is very much to try to keep calm, assess the situation,

be sensible about what you do, if you did capture any video images, if you captured any photographs of any of the aftermath. be sensitive to the victims. turnover any footage that you have to the police. try and sort of -- they're trying to sort of contain the situation and efficient method that they can, and i think we've seen quite clearly in spite of this terrible situation, in spite of the multiple casualties that we can clearly see being taken into ambulances, the police and authorities are doing an incredible job of trying to contain the situation, keep people calm, says and deal with it in an orderly and effective manner. that's not an easy thing to do always in the heat of the moment when you have a situation leak this playing out. >> two of our national security analyst cedric lleyton and steve hall are with us. i'm going to play some -- we're just getting this video in to cnn. i'm going to let it play out. this is video apparently of

gunshots fired at parliament. watch this closely. >> cedric, i'm going to play it one more time. we're going to cue it up from the beginning, because you heard the barrage of gunshots right in the middle. i want to play it for you one more time. let's lisp carefully. >> cedric, what's your analysis? >> my analysis right now, wolf, is that this is -- this looks like it was a lone wolf attack at the moment, but we really don't know more about the control mechanism, and, of course, for these kinds of

situations, it doesn't take a very -- very much of an effort to mountain attack like this. what you are seeing here is the initial phase of panic. you are finding people that are obviously responding to something that they are not used to seeing or hearing, and they're getting out of the way of what they perceive to be danger. what happened, being, after that was the fact that the emergency responders came in very quickly and it looks like they're doing exactly what they need to be doing. >> steve hall, you heard the gunshots in that video. what's your naltsz? >> well, wolf, this is sort of the nightmare scenario that i think all intelligence officers and all intelligence services hope to avoid. >> when you get to gunshots in the streets and people running for their lives, that's the problem with intelligence. you collect it to avoid certification just like this, and when you go et into a circumstance like this, it turns into a police matter, a tactical situation. i think that's what we're seeing right now. despite the fact as others have indicated, there's been a stream

of intelligence we've heard about. a laptop warnings that have been out recently. there have been -- talks about ten to 12 attacks thwarted recently. if we know of ten to 12 attacks that are coming out publicly, there were probably scores more that intelligence across the boards picked up and managed to -- the five eyes relationship with all of these services is so important to thwart these type of attacks before they end up on your shores. >> five eyes being the closest u.s. intelligence cooperative countries that the u.s. deals with, including, of course, britain. >> correct. >> exactly right. the five eyes agreements that have existed really in various forms since world war ii have helped thwart attacks exactly like this, and you know, what steve is talking about is exactly right. those kinds of responses. you know, you have one thing. you have operational successes and intelligence failures is the way the saying always goes, and when you have that the intelligence services are really at the point where they need to

get it right 100% of the time, and it is an almost impossible mission to do that i think in any of these situations. >> we're just getting a quick statement in from the united states embassy in london. in part it says the u.s. embassy in london informs u.s. citizens there's been a security incident on westminster bridge near parliament. u.s. citizens should heed guidance from local authorities and maintain security awareness. we strongly encourage u.s. citizens in the union i'd kingdom to directly contact concerned family members in the united states to advise them of their safety. i want to bring in our cnn international anchor -- she's in london as well. what can you tell us about this area, first of all? >> well, coincidentally, i was inside the houses of commons, literally inside sitting in on prime minister's questions today. those are midday questions. it's a weekly event. that means many members of parliament are in attendance. obviously, the prime minister -- >> hold on a moment. scotland yard now briefing everyone.

>> although we remain open minded to the motive, a full counterterrorism investigation is already underway. this is led by the counterterrorism command. at this stage i will confirm what we know has happened. i will not speculate. we received a number of different calls, which included a person in the river, a car and pedestrians and a man armed with a knife. officers were already in that location as part of routine policing, but immediately additional officers were sent to the scene, and that includes firearms officers. we are working closely with the london ambulance service and the london fire brigade. i would like to repeat our request that the public avoid the following areas. parliament square, white hall, westminster bridge, lambberth bridge, victoria street with the junction with broadway, and the victoria bank -- this is to allow emergency services to deal

with the ongoing investigation. there is an ongoing investigation being carried out -- there is an ongoing investigation being led by the counterterrorism command, and we would ask anybody who has images or film of the incident to pass those to the police. we know there are a number of casualties including police officers, but at this stage we cannot confirm numbers or the nature of these injuries. our response will be ongoing for some time, and it is important that we gather all possible information. public safety is our top priority, and we are reviewing our policing staff across london and throughout the capital this afternoon. there will be additional officers on duty and deployed across the capital. i would like the public to remain vigilant and let us know if they see anything suspicious that causes them concern, and if they do, to dial 999 immediately. the acting commissioner craig macey is being treated as a significant witness as he was at the scene when the incident

started. while he is not injured, it would be inappropriate for him to be here to talk about the incident at this stage. our thoughts and his thoughts are with all of those involved and responding. i would stress that if anyone has information about today's incidents, there is -- they are urged to call 0800-789-321. i would stress if the public have any information or see anything suspicious dial 999 immediately. >> at this stage does the incident seem to be over? >> i'm not going to speculate. we've got -- you're seeing the response that we've got here. officers responding. i want to stress that it's our priority to keep london safe. people going home this evening will see additional officers deployed across london in order to achieve that. >> gunshots fired. gunshots fired. >> i have told you what information i have. i will -- we will keep continue to keep you updated as we find things out. i am not prepared to speculate. ladies and gentlemen, i'm going to thank you very much for your time here this evening.

i would absolutely stress to the public our number one priority is to keep london safe. if people have information, please dial the number 0800-789-321, but most importantly, if people see anything suspicious dial 999 if he this think it's an emergency. thank you very much. >> there you heard the statement. commander b.j. harrington of the london metropolitan police. our cnn international anchor, you were there at parliament when this incident occurred. just a little bit more than two hours ago. i was having a little trouble hearing the beginning part of what he had to say. i think he was seeing maybe you heard it a little bit better than i did, that they are now dealing with what they consider to be an act of terror. >> right. they're saying they're keeping their minds open, but essentially this is a full counter terror investigation, and it is underway. that's what we heard there from police officials. the press association reporting right now that one person has died as a result of what is being treated as a terrorist incident in this city.

official -- additional officers will be deployed across the city, and the police are telling residents of london, visitors to the area, to avoid these large swaths of westminster. this is, of course, where the houses of commons are located. this is where we were. i was with a colleague sitting in on prime minister's questions. today is an important day, of course, because weekly, as many of our viewers know, the prime minister takes questions from members of parliament, which means it's busier than usual, which means that most mp's are in attendance in the houses and it's not just a big monument, wolf, so our viewers understand. this is a giant, working building. thousands of mps, their assistants, you have clerical staff. it's guarded by layers of security, cinder blocks outside and the individual suspected of

having perpetrated the attack was taken down. but it's visitors and tourists, as i mentioned as well, i saw a class field trip there. kids 8 and 9 years old walking up to the viewing gallery to see the business of democracy in this country and how it unfolds every day. so it is an extremely, bustling area and hugely symbolic area here in london. wolf? >> hala gore ran knani, thank y. it's interesting that they have already said that it appears to be an act of terror at these early stages. it's only been two hours since the incident began to unfold. >> well, clearly information coming in is suggesting that this has all of the hallmarks of some kind of terrorism incident in the sense that this was a multiphase or multipronged attack. so that is the working

assumption. it seems a little more now than a working assumption. there seems to be some evidence, really, that this is indeed an act of some kind of terrorism. we don't know at this stage what the motive was, whether there was any link to islamist terrorism. certainly people are going to think that is a possibility given what british officials have been saying for months and months about the state of the threat in the uk. an unprecedented threat to the uk coming from gentlemjihadi te groups, people who are inspired by these groups, notably isis. with more than 800 british residents who have traveled to syria and iraq and more than 400 coming back. that gives you a sense of the scale of the threat. but there are others, thousands in the uk who have not traveled who are also considered to be radicalized and sympathetic to

isis and there is one message for them, to stay home and launch attacks. >> the operating assumption here is that this is an act of terrorism. this investigation is now going to be led by counterterrorism command known as so-15. they are one of the most capable counterterrorism outfits in the world. they work very closely with mi-5. they will be going through all sorts of cc-tv, witness statements and investigating this with great intensity. their biggest concern right now, obviously, is this over. they were not commit tal about that. they didn't say whether they have full confidence that this terrorist event is over. >> it doesn't look like it's over yet. christiane amanpour is with us. you've heard the spokesman for the london metropolitan police commander harrington say they are assuming -- they are working

under the assumption that this is an act of terror. >> reporter: well, yes. that's what they said very early on, until they know otherwise. they wouldn't speculate whether this incident is over. he said i'm not going to speculate. he said we have an open mind with regard to motive. they wouldn't say exactly the nature of the casualties and wouldn't confirm a death. so there are still many unknowns except for this incident that happened and looking at more and more of those pictures, you can see where the car went into the gate of parliament and it's not the traditional visitors' gate. the visitors' gate is further along the road there. and as i say, there is a lot of security at these places. but again, to put it in context, while we try to figure out exactly what this is, as many of us and your experts have been saying, you can commit an act of terrorism with a vehicle now as we've seen since nice and the

several incidents culminating today. and this is something that is going to be and is and all of the intelligence and security officials tell us, almost impossible to deter because what are you going to do? you can't ban cars. yes, you can ban laptops and ipads and all of those kinds of things and liquid on planes. unless they completely ban cars from around parliament, this is one of those low-tech but highly catastrophic attacks that now these people, whether they are lone wolves or not, and they have been in the past in nice and berlin, have been able to do to great effect. and it does happen at a time when oois is being squeezed, when isis has threatened europe and britain, when we have been told by security and intelligence here that it was just a matter of time before some kind of incident, the likes of which took place on the continent, so to speak, in europe over the last couple of years should happen here. this is the first time an attack of this kind, of this magnitude

in terms of the number of casualties has happened since 2005 when people were killed in multiple attacks, suicide bombing attacks. this is the if irs time thfirstg like in these numbers has happened in london. there's a huge number of surveillance equipment around here, cc-tv. it goes without saying that this is the heart of the british government. this is westminster, the houses of parliament. this is the day that there were prime minister questions, meaning she was in the building. she was bundled out, theresa may, as soon as an attack occurred. three members of parliament were also on lockdown and gradually in the last hour they have been allowed out under police escort. this is the first anniversary of

the multiple pronged attack in brussels claimed by isis this time last year and it happened in the context of the most immediate intelligence warning that we, passengers, people coming from certain countries on certain aircraft cannot carry laptops or big tablets in the cabin anymore. plus, last saturday, somebody at the airport tried to attack a police woman and was gunned down by her comrades there in the airport. these small but effective attacks is what police is dealing with more and more. what intelligence is grappling with is more and more as we've seen in other parts of the world, wolf. >> christiane, we're getting a statement from an officer at buckingham palace, saying that the buckingham palace gates are closed as a precaution after the incident at westminster. the queen, by the way, is in

buckingham palace right now. they are taking these steps, presumably, christiane, out of an abundance of caution but counterterrorism officials say they worry it could be a facade, if you will, because something else is going on elsewhere. presumably that's why they shut the gates at buckingham palace. they do that out of an abundance of caution. it's been now two hours since the incident started. >> yes, two hours and about 15 minutes. it was at 2:40 that police first were made aware of such an incident in their tweets. and they've been tweeting pretty regularly about what has been going on. they said we've had this report and then described it as a firearm incident and that meant that their officers responded with their firearms as we now know. one of the assailants or the only assailant, we don't know,

was shot at. you heard in the video that you played, you could hear two shots ringing out. so that happened. and then shortly thereafter and within an hour, the incident they said they were treating it as a terrorist incident until we know otherwise. there is some background to that as well. max foster was at a special scotland yard briefing not so long ago in which they were talking about how they describe incidents in the immediate aftermath because no matter what they do, they say, you're dammed if you do, you're dammed if you don't. if you don't call it a terrorist incident and it is, they get flack from the public. so that is why you're hearing a very measured and deliberate statement. we are treating it as a terrorist incident until we know otherwise. and the last briefing said there is an active counterterrorism investigation underway. so they are beginning to double down on that, although they say they cannot speculate on motive

and we have also heard nothing about the identity of the assailant nor whether there was more than one assailant nor the precise nature of the injuries nor whether anybody, according to the officials, in other words, the police, nor whether anybody was actually killed. the only thing we have to go by is that the press association says that one person at least was killed in this incident. yes, of course they would close buckingham palace gates and, frankly, they are pretty much closed all the time. sometimes you have changing of the guard and that's something that the tourists come to watch because these amazing british soldiers are walking from their headquarters in their coats and walk into the foreground of buckingham palace and it's around midday every day and they change out. tourists flock there to watch it and doors are open and the gates are open to watch that happen. if the queen is there particularly, then that would take place.

now, we also know -- and remember, this is also happening in the context of a highly difficult political debate over brexit. the scottish parliament has been talking about its desire for independence. it has suspended that debate out of respect and concern for what's happening in the united kingdom here in london. >> christiane, standby. the latest information that we're getting, at least one person dead, ten people injured. but there is breaking news we're following right now. >> let's get an update on all of the breaking news emerging from what is now considered to be a terror incident in the uk. one woman has died and a number of people have been hurt. at least ten, we are now told, including some with what is described as described as catastrophic injuries when a car