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alexander here in washington and right now on msnbc, two separate controversies this fourth of july weekend. one involving donald trump, the other, the nation's attorney general, loretta lynch, trump, we will see him in a moment on the right side of your screen there. going to be speaking live at the western conservative summit taking place in denver, colorado. he's in hot water again for, what he said about mexicans and what he didn't say about muslims. we'll explain. meanwhile loretta lynch trying to clear the air about a private meet that she had earlier this week with the former president bill clinton and whether there was any discussion of the fbi's investigation in the hillary clinton's e-mail server. >> the recommendations that we reviewed by career supervisors in the department of justice and in the fbi. and by the fbi director. and then, as is the common process, they present it to me, and i fully expect to accept their recommendations. >> what didn't eric holder tell you about this job?

what's the one thing you wish he had told you? >> where the lock on the plane door was. >> both lirge and former president clinton were on the same tarmac in phoenix, arizona. she says there was no discussion of the fbi's investigation, trump says the meeting was no coincidence and insists the system is rigged. here's what the white house said about this controversy just moments ago. >> the president's expectation is that this investigation will be handled just like all the others, which is that the investigators will be gathered by the facts, they will follow the evidence, and they will reach a conclusion based on that evidence and nothing else. >> we're going to get reports and analysis right now on both controversies, no lack of political moves heading into this holiday weekend. andrea mitchell is joining us now to talk about the controversy involving attorney general loretta lynch. you heard the comments, jonathan

capehart put in a tough position trying to finesse as you described it well a question. and her answer was fairly forth right, acknowledging that she is upset by the situation she put herself and the country in right now. how has she handled this? >> well, i think she could have said that yesterday and tried to put the fires out. i think she handled it as well as she should have today. although she could have explained more about why she even let him on board in the first place. i can see the former president, and you know, but someone should have told her in her inner warning system should have told her, this is not going to be viewed as appropriate because of all the criticism and all the suspicion out there. >> what's so striking, we used the word unforced error for something that donald trump said. here it's bill clinton's actions in effect that put his wife in a much tougher position. the campaign they were hoping to put donald trump on defense, heading into the holidays, and instead they're the ones defending the one part of her

resume she would least like to discuss. >> and they were in fact off the trail. hillary clinton's not been campaigning the last few days, and sort of riding the waves of the successful rally with elizabeth warren and looking forward to what was happening, what's planned for next week with the president campaigning in north carolina key state, and then on friday, scranton, pennsylvania, the all important rally together with joe biden as we say, mixed blessing for joe biden whom we know still wanted to run, but couldn't because of his life circumstances. so she had a lot of pluses coming ahead, and with elizabeth warren, able to try to have people not be talking about bernie sanders so much. >> yeah, exactly. andrea, thanks for analysis. have a great holiday weekend. >> you too. as we mention, msnbc contributor washington post, opinion writer jonathan capehart interviewed the attorney general at the aspen idea festival. happened a few moments ago. here's more of that conversation

earlier today. >> a lot of people were like, it's friends, supporters, backers are saying, what on earth was she thinking? >> well, i mean that's the question of the day, isn't it? >> and i think that's the perfectly reasonable question. i think that's the question that is called, you know, by what happened in feengs because people have also wondered and raised questions about my role in the ultimate resolution of matters involving investigation. >> joining us now on the phone, just following that conversation with lynch is jonathan capehart. i'm glad you're here right now. you were there -- >> hey peter. >> you had an attorney to speak with the attorney general. i want to get a sense what have you think about this situation and her effort to try to calm this storm that the clinton camp had no desire to witness. >> right. well this is a storm on multiple fronts. here you have an attorney general with a solid gold reputation for integrity and

sound judgment whose been placed in a situation or found herself in a situation that put both of those things into question and so, you know -- and why at the same time what's happening is an investigation is happening involving the spouse of the former president of the united states who found his way on to her plane. what i saw on the interview on stage and on the record with her after the event is somebody who is not only worried about her -- let me rephrase, it's not that she's worried about her reputation for judgment and integrity. what we saw on the stable is an attorney general who is very concerned about what this incident means for the integrity and the public confidence in the department of justice. >> and jonathan, it seems clear to me that this is, this is rapidly going to become a

rallying cry for republicans going forward. this gets right to the heart of all things they think is not just wrong with hillary clinton, but with the obama administration more broadly. >> yeah, i mean this could not have happened at a worse time, not only for hillary clinton's campaign because it feeds into a narrative that she in particular is not trust worthy, but it also is not good for the obama administration where you have the ongoing efforts by republicans to sort of cast the president, his administration, and certainly the department of justice as a place that does not have the overall interest of the nation at heart. we have to keep in mind that republicans have been doing battle with obama administration attorney's general thinking of eric holder since almost day one. and so this, what happened in phoenix on the tarmac only feeds into that. >> and then i'm curious to get your take, obviously it's rare

that we even hear an attorney general speaking about what is in fact an active investigation. she obviously did this in an effort to try to clear the air about concerns that exist right now. is there any sense of a time frame on this? many people speculated the reason that bernie sanders is leaving his name in the hat right now is because in case secretary clinton is to be indicted, he wants to be the next in line. >> right. and i asked her that question on stage when might we see her accepting the findings and the determinations from the career prosecutors and investigators and she, she didn't answer the question, but it's clear that some kind of determination is coming in the some time, some time near future. and that what she's been doing since the story came to light and what she did on the stage, first was to be very transparent, but then today in the interview would be here in aspen was to talk about the process about what was going to happen. and i don't know if people

picked up on it, but she, when she was talking about what's going to happen going forward, she said a couple of times that this is the normal process, what's new here is that no one has ever talked about it publicly before like this. and so she felt that as a result of what happened in phoenix on the tarmac that it was imperative that she step out and say, here's how the process works, here's how it's going to happen going forward. >> jonathan capehart with the washington post, helping us out, jonathan, it was a news-making interview. we were impressed by how well you handled it and thanks for talking to us about it the right now. >> thanks so much, peter. nbc's katie ter is traveling with the trump campaign right now in colorado where he's scheduled to speak. he's also gone after the clintons and this lynch meeting with the former president. i imagine this is going to be pretty good foughter for donald trump to target the clintons once again. >> reporter: yeah and it feeds into the narrative they've been trying to paint against hillary

clinton, she's untrust worthy and they are out for themselves. rather than the general public. so whatever actually happened in this meeting between loretta lynch and bill clinton, it doesn't necessarily matter because the optics of it are very much in donald trump's favor. at least to those who are perceptive to the argument that hillary clinton is somebody that cannot be trusted. i do expect to hear donald trump talk about this at every opportunity he has. and we're going to expect to hear him talk about it here in the conservative, the western conservative summit here in colorado. >> katie, obviously there is interest from the people that watch donald trump closely like yourself and others, whether trump is going to be delivering a speech off prompter or with prompter today. gives you a sense of what he's doing in terms of messaging, what message he wants to deliver sometimes ultimately he does deliver, do we know the answer to that yet? >> reporter: there are teleprompters set up, the campaign has not told us one way or another whether he will be using a teleprompter, but if we do see him using one, it lends

more to the image of donald trump changing and trying to become a little bit manufacture controlled and a little bit more presidential. we've seen him make that pivot in the last few weeks when it comes to his speeches. not so much with this interview or necessarily his tweets, but at least some movement forward to those who are hoping for it on capitol hill. we're going to find out if today is another example of this. colorado is a state that he's not very popular in at the moment right know, peter, he lost all of the delegates here during the state convention to ted cruz. senator cory gardener and the gop senator here has mocked him on twitter, saying they can't figure out a convention, how can you expect to defeat isis. and this is also ground zero for the stop trump movement. free the delegate movement. so trump needs a win here. staying on message would be an ideal would be, it would be a better thing for him to do according to those who are trying to see him make some gains in the state. >> katie, quickly before i let you go, i want to talk about the vice presidential pick, trump

himself in an interview suggesting that this or his aids suggesting this could happen sooner than the convention. any sense of where he's leaning right now? >> reporter: again, donald trump needs to win, he's got a few negative press cycles and leaking a vp information could help him with that and getting it out there as early as next week i'm told could help him with that. three people high on the list right now, new jersey governor chris christie, former house speaker newt gingrich, and indiana governor mike pence. all of whom would lend the campaign legislative experience where he doesn't have it. credibility in washington, newt gingrich may be lending the most credibility in washington in terms it of how to get things done. he's known as a seasoned negotiators. somebody who understands the politics of washington, but he has a lot of negatives as well, in 2012 when he stopped running for president, he was the most unfavorable politician in america. he also suffers from some of the fatigue, sorry, i'm going to

have to lower my voice when he was going after bill clinton and trying to impeach him for his infidelity, and mike pence, he's a conservative, evangelical, somebody who would help him with the christian right, but again wouldn't necessarily help him with battleground states and new jersey's governor chris christie also would help with legislative experience, but he's deeply unpopular in new jersey right now. there's the bridgegate scandal and also he's extraordinarily similar to donald trump. both have larger than life personalities and both have been accused of being bullies. i'm told by sources close to the campaign that right now it's not a matter of who is the best fit, it's who is the best fit of those who are willing to do it? and there are not that many folks out there, politicians out there who are willing to run on a donald trump ticket, at least as of now. >> cue the piano, katie ter in colorado, kaetd, we appreciate it, thank you very much. sarah is a republican strategist who worked on carly

fiorina's campaign, matt bennett worked on campaigns for both bill clinton and michael. sarah, you first, donald trump we've been talking about hillary clinton. i want to talk about trump for a second. he's also in hot water over something that he didn't say during an exchange with a woman who was upset over muslim tsa agents. this happened in a stop in new hampshire, let's listen for our audience. >> why aren't we putting our retiree, our military retirees on that border or in tsa? get rid of the highway jab, aye seen them myself. they fought and defended it, they'll still do it. thank you. >> you know, and we are looking at that. and we are looking at that. we're looking at a lot of things. >> hibi jabs, the muslim prayer scarf. a lot of people pointed out john mccain rebutted a woman, eight

years ago who questioned then senator obama's religion, should donald trump have said something more here on an answer about israel? he was firm, but on this one, he said, we're going to look into that. >> well, i think everyone knows that i'm not the biggest fan of donald trump, but here's an area where i'll defend him. i don't think it's a politician's job to push back every time someone asks a question that -- >> but doesn't it show strength to push back? >> let's remember, hillary clinton had someone ask a question where they said they wanted to reach through the camera and strangle carly fiori fiorina, hillary laughed, the media said that was a joke. calling balls and strikes from the media can be grossly unfair, it is nerve racking to ask a question of a presidential candidate. i think donald trump has handled a many number of things correctly, i don't think it is one of them. >> we'll give ewe pass on that one, matt, let me read something that one of mitt romney's top aids, eric writes today in the "boston globe."

as unpopular as trump is, the democrats are on the verge nominating someone nearly as unpopular. that's the reason this campaign remains suspenseful at all. he's not mistaken, clinton's high negatives according to to the latest poll almost as high as trump's. they in the eyes of many are really creating this opening for trump to continue to gain ground in this campaign cycle. >> well look, first of all her negatives are nowhere near as deeply felt as trump's. i think if you look at -- first of all at how they are perceiving the two candidates. they might feel like she's been on the scene a long time and they were hoping for somebody new, but with trump, they have a visceral hatred of the guy. so i think what you'll see is polls start to firm up as we get towards november -- >> but why is the race so close in so many swing states if people have a visceral hatred of trump. >> that's a good question.

i think for one thing they haven't squared up against each other until recently. she has been dealing with a primary challenge, she had 16 challengers of her own. you haven't seen the advertising and messaging directed at trump other than for the last couple of weeks. and people, most normal people aren't paying too much attention to politics at the in a moment. as they do and start to think about their choice between a guy who is so manifestly unfit to be the commander in chief of the country. versus a person that -- well, she might be have been around for a long time, but clearly is qualified for the job. that's going to change. >> the challenge is significant for each of them. i'm sorry we have to be so brief here. sarah, i appreciate it, matt bennett, thank you to you as well. we want to bring you into this conversation on today's microsoft pulse question. here it is. are you confident in the justice department's ability to fairly oversee the clinton e-mail investigation? the pulse live right now, we want your thoughts, we hope you log on to pulse.msnbc.com to

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right now back live with breaking news here on msnbc. w we're learning new information about a situation taking place in the call of bangladesh. dhaka. in the wider diplomatic enclave. reports of a shooting and hostage situation. i want to get right to our

teammate who's looking into this. with any new details. what do we know? >> put that tweet up again. that's from the u.s. state department. they're urging all u.s. citizens to shelter in place and monitor the local news. one of the things we're dealing with here is sketchy information coming out of bangladesh which is a reflection of bangladesh, a third world country in southeast asia. we understand that somewhere between five and nine attackers went into this bakery. again, as you said, this is the diplomatic enclave in the city of dhaka. it's called the gulshan. this is where a lot of ex-pats go in the evening to enjoy a friday evening. we understand somewhere between five and nine attackers went into a bakery, taken hostages and they have what police are saying crude explosive devices. this is nothing new for the country. in fact in 2015, the u.s. state department put out a warning to u.s. citizens in bangladesh they should be on the lookout for some of these crude explosive devices. local tv in bangladesh. that is the very same tv that

the u.s. state department is urging u.s. citizens in the start monitoring the situation is ongoing. the situation is unclear how many hostages we've heard between 20 and 30. and we do not have the nationalities of the hostages, but obviously the state department is concerned that americans might be there. >> so to be very clear as you said, this started the hostage situation taking place, this is early, i'm going to pose these questions. do we know the proximity of this bakery, of the situation to the u.s. embassy more broadly? >> well the enclave is not more than about a mile sort of wide. so it wouldn't be more than a few sort of city blocks. no more than half a mile. it's close, but not close enough that the u.s. embassy would have any security issues certainly. i think the concern is more again about u.s. citizens that might be in bangladesh, not even on official business. a lot of people go to bangladesh for vacation to tour the region. sop i think that's the concern the state department has.

>> the office of -- the state department's bureau of diplom diplomatic security has put out warnings about political extremists and other factions there as you talked about. these easily concocted, manufactured molotov cocktail-type explosives to perpetrate whatever violence they're doing still. still unclear. we have again some of those live pictures from the local television station there in the region. do we have any broader understanding of how many americans are based in bangladesh even right now in the diplomatic area? >> i don't know that actually to be sure, and this is something, this is the post that will rotate people through. because it's a difficult place to live. this is a third world country, i've actually been there, i covered a cyclone there, and it was frankly like a little bit like going back in time. i want to read for you, you mentioned this 2015 warning by the state department. here's what they say, political extremists and other factions in bangladesh commonly use

explosive devices. these contain a mixture of low explosives that detonate when thrown on the ground. and we're hearing that this is what's going on. that the attackers are throwing these explosive devices towards the police who have surrounded that bakery. the police are returning fire. that's obviously a very, very dangerous and flood situation for any of the hostages who may be in that bakery. >> cal, stay with us, i want to get to lucy cav gnaw. she's monitoring us in london. what other details can you offer? >> it is emerging at the moment. there's not a lot of facts to confirm. we know that gunmen attacked that restaurant, possibly a bakery that was popular with foreign visitors and foreign residents in the area. again as cal mentioned, it is a diplomatic corridor, westernerers would likely be operating in that area. this is according to police and witnesses, we're still waiting to confirm with sources on the ground. this is based from the wires. according to one witness that

one of the wires had spoken to, he said he could hear gunfire and that it looked quite bad, no details as of yet as to how many hostages there might be. whether this has shootout is still continuing or even what exactly is going on. so we are obviously monitoring this if r you. the context here is there's been a the love attacks in bangladesh by islamists groups that are targeting atheist bloggers. there's been a lot of attention in the country, whether this is related or not, we don't know, it's too soon to tell autothe moment. >> lucie cav gnaw reporting from london right now. we're going to monitor the situation taking place in the diplomatic enclave in bangladesh's city dhaka. when we have more information, there's other breaking news. even as we speak at the western conservative summit, this from denver, colorado, where the republican presumptive nominee for president of the united states, donald trump, you see now taking the stage. we're going to take a close listen to what he's saying and if if he says anything that's newsy driven by recent comments

from loretta lynch today about her private meeting with bill clinton, we will bring those to you as well. you're watching live coverage right here on msnbc. crowd sounds ] oooh! [ brakes screech ] when your pain reliever stops working, your whole day stops. excuse me, try this. but just one aleve can last 12 hours. tylenol and advil can quit after 6. [ cheering ] so live your whole day, not part... with 12 hour aleve.

back now with more breaking news live here on msnbc. this is coming to us from bangladesh. bangladesh in southern asia, parked between myanmar and india right now. reports of shooting and hostage situation taking place in dhaka, the capital city in the diplomatic enclave where the u.s. embassy among other venues is located. i want to get to my colleague cal perry right now who has new details about this situation taking place. cal. >> yeah peter, let me just update on, question about the u.s. embassy. it's a kilometer away, 15-minute walk. no far at all. we stress that the state department was asking u.s. citizens to monitor local media. here's what the local media just said, eight or nine gunmen stormed the bakery, at least 20 to 60 people inside currently

involved in this hostage situation. reports of the gunmen have fired over 50 rounds at police and are throwing as we mentioned those crude bombs back at police. we're starting to see photos which we will clear shortly from hospitals of security forces and wounded. now being carried to the hospital. again, this is an ongoing situation. we do know that there are people wounded on the ground. and again, according to local media, eight or nine gunmen and at least 20 hostages inside this bakery. >> at this time, cal, important to note, we don't know any specifics about the individuals inside frankly about this holey bakery, we're looking it up to see if this is a place where americans in that region would frequent. what's striking to me having traveled in places like afghanistan, pakistan, for example, and the diplomatic enclaves of sorts with embassies are located. they're often several layers of security before you can even get into such an enclave which would raise some questions about the ability of so many perpetrators, so many of these, what did you just say, eight to nieb of them

being able to storm a bakery in that area. >> exactly as you lay out, these diplomatic enclaves are fairly well protected because of course the governments in these countries don't to want have this kind of thing happen because it effects tourism, diplomatic relations with western nations and certainly for an islamic nation like benni benning la desh, this has been a concern on behalf of the government and this is exactly the opposite of the kind of video and photos that the bangladeshy government wants across the world. this affects business, tourism, and this diplomatic enclave is key to the capital of da ka. this is a friday night, people would have been out. this is the start of the weekend in bangladesh, like anywhere in the world, this is a center of commerce. again, now we're seeing local tv putting out pictures. these are fresh pictures -- >> we believe these are live. >> yeah, and this again to

stress to viewers, if you're a u.s. citizen in bangladesh, you have been instructed by the u.s. state department to monitor exactly these pictures for the latest information. right now, the situation is contained around that bakery. certainly officials hope it will remain contained and it won't spread in this diplomatic enclave. >> striking even as you speak and we continue to look at live pictures again from bangladesh, in its largest city, the capital stiff dhaka right now. this hostage situation reportedly taking place at a bakery there where as many as several dozen people may have been taken hostage as a result of this right now. the u.s. embassy is within this diplomatic enclave, and just been handed a map which gives us some layout of the place a place that very few americans travel, but in that immediate area, this is surrounded by the russian embassy, the australian high commission, the german embassy. this is an area that is

certainly traveled to and frequented by, if not americans, many westerners and others again it bears repeating the diplomatic enclaves are generally very protected areas, let's go back to lucie cav gnaw, she is one of my colleagues in london right now. lucie getting more information as well, what more do you know? >> we're hearing now from a state department spokesman who isn't revealing too much more information, all they're saying, it's simply too early to tell who exactly is involved in this unfolding hostage situation or the motivation for it. again, those details still coming in as we've been reporting, this is a diplomatic enclave, an area that's likely to be frequented by diplomats and foreigners and other westernerers. bangladesh has had a lot of problems in recent months with attacks by certain islamic groups against secular bloggers and activists. it's unclear whether that has anything to do with the unfolding hostage crisis situation or even how many

hostage takers are involved here. but we are certainly monitoring this for you. again state department saying it's too early to tell who is involved and what the motivation might be. >> again, as we monitor these live pictures right now, you can see -- don't know how many hours, but several hours ahead of us, it is evening there. heading into what here is a holiday weekend. of course, they're not celebrating american independence there, but the u.s. is stationed throughout the year, which is why smzing this we're focussed on so urgently right now given the warning to americans to shelter in place and to continue to watch the local media. cal perry, lucie cavanaugh. if you're just tuning in, hostage situation. we know those reports have been verified. how many hostages remains unclear at this time. we haven't been able to independently confirm, though some reports suggest it could be dozens trapped there. we are understanding that eight,

perhaps nine of these individual wx these gunmen as its been described entered this bakery at some place over the course of i think within the last hour as best we understand it right now, my colleagues, my colleagues lucie cavanaugh are staying with us right now, cal, back to you as we hand these things around so we can each do reporting independently while others do the talking. what more are you able to gather as the stat department continues to calm the concerns -- >> let's, let's -- sorry, yeah, i didn't mean to interrupt, just a brief mention on the timeline of this. it's about 11:40 p.m. local time in dhaka. this started around 10:00 pam, we're looking at an hour, hour and a half when this started. one of the other things worth mentioning here, you mentioned afghanistan, another place why you have the diplomatic enclaves where security would be pretty strict, strin i can't to try to keep people out of that area. you'll see there in your video,

this is local television in bangladesh. this is not a police force that is equipped like western police forces. this is not just a country that has the same kind of resources that a place like afghanistan where people are very well-armed would have. and that's why you're seeing pictures of people being ferried in taxi cabs and other kind of local transportations to and from hospitals. and i'm not so sure that the local police in bangladesh of this size. if these local reports turn out to be true, it's eight or nine gunmen, 20 potentially hostages, that is a very large event. that is a significant attack, a very complex one, and certainly the concern amongst embassies whom right now the united states embassy, the russian embassy, they're going to be going through their list of people who work there, calling people, making sure that everyone is accounted for and they're going to go through the citizenings that they know are currently visiting the country. bangladesh is one of these

countries where the u.s. state department recommends if you travel to bangladesh, check in with the embassy, let them now you're in the country and then they can help sort of track you. >> it's important to note to our audience we're working with our reporters all across this team to gather new information, right now we're now hearing from the white house, the press secretary josh ernest, communicating to us that president obama has now been briefed about this situation. taking place in bangladesh. obviously this raises alarms because given so many of the concerns here about security following the attacks in orlando and in istanbul, while it's too early to know the basis of this attack, while it's in effect perhaps a one offer or whether this is some sort effort to target western locations throughout different regions of the world, we simply don't know, but given the backdrop of the terror that we witnessed around the globe in recent months and weeks it obviously raises real concern which is why the president is being alerted to

this situation right now. cal, while you were speaking, i was just going online and looking up what is called a holey artisan bakery. just with one quick look by googling it, frankly you get a sense that this is an upscale kind of place. the kind of places like westernerers would certainly frequent even the pictures show as much. >> and in a place that is a third world country. westernerers are going to gravitate to these areas, especially on the weekends. let's talk about the timing here. this is something we're going to talk about. it's the last friday of ramadan, this is an islamic country. this is something that's certainly going to spike on the radar of u.s. officials. i think it's probably one of the reasons that president obama was briefed so quickly. again, we're still in the early hours of this attack. unclear again the nationalities of who's in that bakery, but certainly this is going to be of concern to u.s. officials, not just because of that location, but because of the the timing of this as well. >> and as you're speaking, i'm being told right now that the

state department is now communicated that 100% of the americans who are under the authority of the chief of mission at the u.s. embassy in bangladesh have now been accounted for. still too early to know whether any of the individuals may have been injured or affected in this attack, but the good news is we are told by the state department that 100% of them have now been accounted for, this is an area, this is important to note to our audience, bangladesh is an area that has seen growing extremist violence over the course not just the last several months, but the last several years. it's no mistake to many americans that this is a poor country, but also a country that has had its share of violence that was only about 18 months ago that the u.s. state department had put out warnings about some of the violence, much of it with sort of hand-crafted molotov cocktail type explosives posing potential concerns. i want to get to my colleague

amon who is joining us right now. amon, can you put this -- let's be honest, we don't know exactly what's going on here in terms of the motivation for these eight to nine individuals who stormed this bakery, but can you put it in a broader context given some of the threats we've seen? islamists extremism around the globe right now and the intersection with the end of ramadan approaching. >> there's no doubt that bangladesh itself has had a history of extremists, particularly militant extremist in the past several years. there's been a long spade of attacks against gays and lesbians. there's a publisher recently killed no too long ago who was publishing the first gay magazine in bangladesh. attacks on notable politicians. so there has been a rise. and a major cause of concern that the presence of extremists groups in bangladesh had become more powerful more potent in the the attacks. it's a major sticking point for the security services there to get a lid on it. as you were mentioning, there is this broad concern with so many

of these attacks, not only with the scale of the attacks, but with the frequency that they are now beginning to occur. and this is going to be a new dynamic in this, you know, global war on terror if you will. but what we're seeing right now is an accelerated pace by a lot of these groups. particularly these home-grown types. and that is the case in what we're seeing in bangladesh, the extremist groups have been mostly indigenous. that is from their own country, unlike syria or iraq. we saw an influx give rise to groups like isis. but in bangladesh, the extremist groups that have been operating have gained momentum. they're notorious for gaining the attacks on notable people including secular journalists, atheists, and as we were mentioning there, human rights, particularly members of the lgbt community there. you put in the context of what has happened over the course of several months with attacks in turkey, paris, and brussels going back last year, this is

obviously continuation. and you brought up a really good point. it's still a little bit early given we don't have all the details of what is unfolding there, but when you look at the style of what has unfolded and the location of where this is, you cannot exclude that anymore in these initial stages of the analysis because we've been hearing that this is a well to do area frequented by westernerers, the bakery sits in an area that is surrounded by diplomatic compounds and frequented perhaps by diplomats and westernerers. obviously the target is going to be a factor in determines the motivation here. >> and we want to be clear, stay with me right now if you can as we look at a map and live pictures of where this hostage situation is playing out in the dhaka. the diplomatic enclave of the bangladesh city. initially the president had been briefed, now being told that the president has not yet been briefed. the press secretary josh ernest

said he'll communicate as soon as he has more information. otherwise on that right now. we're going to take a quick break in a moment, but just to recap our audience, as we gather up all the information we can here. this is a hostage situation after a shooting taking place inside a western-type bakery. what's called the holey artisan bakefully dhaka. the largest city of bangladesh, the capital city, taking place within the diplomatic enclave there. only about a 15-minute walk as it's described to us from the u.s. embassy. the important news for americans watching this right now is the state department communicates that all of its employees, all americans who are there under the chief of mission based in bangladesh right now are said to be accounted for. still no details about the motivation of these individuals that stormed this bakery. we'll take a short break and be right back with more of this breaking news coverage. ve righte actually. you've been to my place. no, i wasn't...oh look, you dropped something.

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more breaking news right now live on msnbc. these are live pictures in dhaka, bangladesh, the largest city, the capital city of bangladesh. this is the diplomatic enclave where the u.s. embassy is located. we are now confirming a shooting and a hostage situation that has taken place there at a western-style bakery. an area that many ex-patriots and others are known to frequent. at this time all the americans under the chief of mission working within the u.s. embassy in that area are said to be accounted for. no clear word on the motivation of the individuals that stormed this bakery. my team has gathered now, including cal perry in new york, cal, what more details can you add? >> this started an hour, hour and a half ago inside that diplomatic enclave which is frequented by westerners. the u.s. state department is urging any u.s. citizens in the country to be monitoring exactly what you're seeing on your screen right there, local media. we understand the, according to local media, i want to stress we are relying on local media for a

lot of this information. they believe tweenl eight, maybe nine gunmen went into this bakery. again about an hour and a half ago. that's when they started exchanging fire with local police. there have been reports that they are throwing improvised explosive devices out of that bakery towards local police as well. and various nations as you said now trying to get a grasp on whether or not any of their citizens are inside that bakery or inside that diplomatic enclave. it's also important to note we believe that right now, this is confined to that bakery. it has not spread outside that bakery and certainly that is going to be a priority for the security forces which are now responding to this attack. >> malcolm nance is joining us as well, cal, thank you. malcolm nance is an msnbc terrorism analyst who is joining us now by phone. malcolm, i know you're watching along with us live here on msnbc. i want to get a sense from you about the challenge that a situation like this poses in a country that is known to have political and other extremists who are frankly if they so

desire and are so willing with these improvised explosive devices, able to do a lot of harm in an area that serves a lot of westerners. westerners. we are await, formal come to answer. he is one of our counter-terrorism experts. malcolm, do you hear me? >> right. yeah. i hear you. this is an extremely extraordinary situation going on in bangladesh. >> why? >> first off, the city of dhaka is a very dense city. they do have a small history of religious extremism. certainly isis backers and things who have been there, but there has never been anything as sophisticated as what we're seeing right now. this is in order of magnitude different from the types of attacks we've seen, which have been individual attacks. there was one hostage taking and a murder of a werner in the city. but this shows a level of planning, depth, commitment, and

assemblage of weapon systems. and then to actually go into the diplomatic section of the city and carry this out is again extraordinary. >> malcolm, that last element of what you just mentioned i think is important to our audience to explain. this takes place inside the up low mattic enclachbl i know you have done this. i've travelled to the diplomatic enclaves in countries. take pakistan, there were at least three layers to get anywhere near any of these embassies before entering. the idea that eight to nine individuals armed with improvised explosives not to mention guns could do something like that that seems to be of real concern and alarm given its proximity not just to the u.s. embassy but all the foreign embassies in that country. >> you are sleight absolutely right. there is a heavy layer of security around the diplomatic zone. you have the paramilitaries, the

special branch of the police forces and your own diplomatic security people around your areas. but for anyone who has been to dhaka, they would know that is an extremely impoverished country, bangladesh. the city itself extremely impoveri impoverishes. money you can at that. if you can do the planning and make relationships with the people inside these areas you can get through virtually any security. but the number of personnel that are supposedly involved in this, which may be seven to eight, the weapons, the improvised explosives, again, this shows a level of forethought, planning, and sophisticate, which is quite surprising for bangladesh and it gives me an indication that they have had either education -- there have been a lot of members of bangladesh who have been members of isis and al qaeda, and of course possibly some intelligence nl plan skpk prompting to enable them to carry out an attack in such a

sensitive location of the city. >> malcolm, we've gathered a ross he of experts to explain to us this hostage situation in the capital zone of the city of bangladesh right now. one is jim cavanaugh, a former hostage negotiator. in simple terms, these individuals, who as we understand it, perhaps eight or known of them holed up in a western-type bakery with reports there may be as many as 60 hostaging there -- what do these individuals want? how challenging is this negotiation for people who play the role that you do, which is trying to end the violence? >> well, it's extremely challenging, peter. i mean to build on what malcolm fans was saying, you have seven to nine conspirators who are well armed, come in and planned an attack in an international area you know, neerp the embassies. you know, there is a purpose. they are well planned. why would they want to take

hostages? they want to achieve what all terrorists want. that is theater. it gives them time. they want time, they wasn't attention. they want to talk about their grievances with the world. the negotiatorsl have a huge task. people are wrong to say that you can't negotiate with terrorists. you can. the outcome is usually not very good but you can buy some time. we saw that, peter n the pulse nightclub where orlando p.d. negotiators talked with the killer for three hours. we've seen it internationally as well. in the moscow theater, different attacks. there could be negotiations to buy the commander time and they can use that maybe to act. >> the pulse nightclub -- we don't have any indication at this time there are any americans inside this bakery. the pulse nightclub, jim, that was one gunman with awful intent who was sable to kill just so many individuals there.

here when you are dealing with seven, eight, nine individuals, i imagine for a hostage nerntdor the challenge is that much more difficult because you have got to get all the individuals on the same page in agreement if they are to sort of change course and give up their evil act. >> right. and it's going to be unlikely you are going to negotiate these guys into any kind of a surrender. what you may be able to negotiate is for time to move the forces for an emergency assault to be able to save some people. remember, if they are talking and they are not killing sh that's a positive thing. >> jim i'm sorry to be rude -- jim, hate to be rude. i want to take our audience to the state right now. i understand john kirby the spokesman at the state department is addressing this right now. let's listen. >> we're mindful -- again, i don't have the details on this, and i would also encourage you to consult the defense department as well, and the coalition. i just don't have operational details on this. but this notion that we are

somehow given iran a free pass in the region is simply not accurate. >> the other day, in aspen, secretary kerry made some comments to the effect that trade and business, specifically u.s. trade and business, but more generally all trade and business will serve as a -- >> i've been listening to the spokesperson john kirby for the state department right now obviously addressing issues other than this one. i think we missed the top of his briefing when he did talk about this more specifically. i want to get back to jim cavanaugh right now about this situation and the about the fact that it's taking place in a diplomatic zone. and not just that, it happens in a part of the world, we should note, bangladesh surrounded by india on one side, myanmar, formerly burma, on the other side. this is an area where political religious extremism is not an infrequent challenge for law enforcement and security forces.

>> that's right. i mean, this is a real challenge, peter, for on scene commanders to deal with, seven to nine armed gunmen. remember, when you are dealing with one person -- one person in orlando shot 103 people in a matter of minutes. i mean if you go back and look at the time line from, before they were able to box him into the bathroom at the pulse nightclub it was really a matter of minutes when patrol got there. he was able to shoot 103 people. now you have nine attackers, reports you have had they are holding up to 80 people. this cab real awful scenario as well. the police really have to be on their game. they have got to read this carefully. they are probably going to have to make an emergency assault. they might delay it through negotiation. but we don't know if there is a negotiation directly with the leader of the nine -- the seven to nine people who will go out on a suicidal and homicidal mission -- i think this is what malcolm was referring to -- you have to understand that in the

criminal mind. i mean it's an achievement to get people to do. that it's more akin to warfare than it is a criminal attack. it is a terrorist cell, basically, when you can get seven to nine people to go on an attack like this. you know, at a major internationally related target and compound. >> important to notoriety now, bestill don't have any word on the motivation, the specific motivation of these eight or nine intruders carrying as it's been described to us not just guns but also improvised explosive devices similar to a molotov cocktail. this has been a problem in this region in the past. this is not a new kind of situation. in the capital city of bangladesh, dhaka, this hostage situation continuing to take place almost two hours after it started. they are ten hours ahead of us there. it is approaching midnight right now in bangladesh.

the situation taking place as we said now over the course of two hour's time. we are told by the state department that 100% -- all of the americans under the chief of mission's authority there in dhaka, in bangladesh, are said to be safe and accounted for. no clear indication at this time the state department communicates whether anybody may have been harmed in some form, injured here. jim, finally to you, if i can, for so many westerners in so many diplomatic enclaves and compounds not alone but with their families around the world what are some of the messages delivered to them as they head into holiday weekends like this. we don't know the motivations but these are families that need to be on alert for individuals who are trying to cause harm and have their message spread. >> right, it's the world we live in. you have to have your own individual security strategy for your own person, you have to have one for your small group, your family, your five or six

friends when you go out. your own individual security strategy. the police have theirs, the military has theirs, the state, nation you are in. if you go out with your own, alertness and paying attention to exits and where you go and so you have to pay real close attention. look at the attack at the istanbul airport. military grade explosives, those are devastating. and an attacker sending the crowd running where another attacker is waiting. you have got to keep your wits about you and you have got to think all the time an attack could come at any moment. that's no guarantee of safety. you can't just stay in your room the rest of your life. but you have to be alert, pay attention and you have got to be thinking about it. >> jim, i'm going to ask you to stay with usle i'm going to wrap things up for this hour live on msnbc as we continue to monitor the breaking situation taking place in the capital city of bangladesh. i'm going to happened hinges