he said man haron monis became abusive to his goddaughter in the end.a moriarty, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you. >>> we're also learning more now about the two hostages killed in yesterday's standoff in australia. 38-year-old katrina dawson was killed. she was shielding her pregnant friend from gunfire. she was the sister of sandy dawson, an employee at an australian tv station. it was a very emotional moment when the anchors released that could -- that katrina dawson was one of the victims. >> the sister of -- >> i have friends who know her. mother of three children. >> the second victim was tori johnson, the manager of the cafe. he was killed when he grabbed the gun and the gun went off. it was that gunshot that prompted police to storm the cafe. >>> pakistani officials say the attack at a school by taliban gunman is over. at least 130 people were killed in the attack. most of them children. taliban gunmen stormed the school early this morning and started shooting at random. more than 700 children attend the school which is run by pakistan's milita

man haron monis appears to have acted alone. before his facebook page was taken down on monday he had well over 14,000 likes. he also posted regular tweets, writing earlier this month that islam is the religion of peace. that's why muslims fight against america and its allies. counterterrorism project, countering their narrative and exposing their means of financial support. david great to have you with us. >> thank you for having me. >> you said recently we're only starting to recognize how far ahead the extremists are in their use of social media. we invinted this. why are we having trouble with this? >> the ideology, the extremism has been around for a long long time. so is counterextremism efforts. but these using social media for their platforms to spread their message. >> why do you think they are playing a major role in inspiring people like this guy in australia man haron monis to do what he did? >> i think they did. they borrow a level of education and sophistication, particularly i.s.i.s. and their affiliates that we h

time ago police stormed the lindt cafe where a man identified as 50-year-old iranian native man haron monis held people hostage. >> you can see it all developed around 2:00 a.m. local time there. that's about an hour ago. some hostaging running out of the cafe. there was gunfire, flash bang explosions. you can see police in their tactical gear wearing night vision goggles. you can see hostages fleeing off into safety again. they say the siege is over. the police from new south wales say the siege is over. how it all went down there will be questions. i want to go to reporter kathy novak in sydney. kathy, it was a long, long night 17 hours into this. apparently it all came to an end when the man, sheik haron as he likes to call himself started moving hostages inside that roo room. >> it certainly seems that way, john. all that police are saying right now, they will just confirm that as you say the siege is over. we are seeking more details about how that happened and trying to confirm reports of those fatalities and injuries right now all we can confirm is that the new south wales police say

two hospital stadges are dead hh man haron monis. he is already under charges of attempting to murder his ex wife. mmonis walked into the cafe, located at the end of martin place. next door is the reserve bank of australia, directly opposite are the tv studios for the australian network channel 7. other major buildings nearby include the world famous sydney opera house. kim vanel reports. one officer appears to throw a stun grenade. in the crack of what was either gun fire or flash explosions. paramedics were already there and quickly ran towards the building. one woman could be seen being carried out. the siege began during monday morning rush hour. >> a woman was summonings police, she had her phone to her ear. police on motorcycles arrived and others on foot very quickly. she was telling them she had gone to go inside the cafe and the automatic glass sliding doors had been disabled and shut. she initially thought the cafe was closed and then realized something was going on inside. she told police she saw a man with a blue bag and

his name man haron monis, but on his website he went by the name of sheikh haron, sheikh in this sense meaning cleric or spiritual leader. haron was apparently out on bail facing charges in australia on at least a dozen sexual assault cases. he was also found guilty back in 2012 for rioting and mailing hate letters, i suppose you would call them, to families of at least eight australian soldiers killed in action in afghanistan. and he was also charged or faced charges in connection with the murder of his ex-wife. he was in court, joy, only three days ago, on friday, where he reportedly failed in what was seemed to be his last legal challenge to lift some of those charges. he apparently turned increasingly angry and frustrated against the police -- or if he was a so-called lone wolf carrying out, you know, a vague order to attack australians. and, perhaps, motivated by extremist groups like isis. but for now, police are calling it a one-off isolated incident. joy, back to you. >> nbc's jim maceda, thanks very much. >>> now to the white house and nbc senior correspondent jchris jansing.

his name is man haron monis but goes by the name or went by the name of sheikh heron, as in cleric or spiritual healer. haron was apparently facing charges on sexual assault cases and found guilty in 2012 for sending hate letters to families of at least australian soldiers killed in action in afghanistan. and he also faces -- or faced charges in connection with the murder of his ex-wife. now, he was in court only last friday, just three days ago, where he reportedly failed in his last legal challenge, if you will, to lift any of those charges. he became increasingly frustrated and angry with the government, with the police, not able, he said, to even see his children. but we still don't know if this was the act of someone who just went completely deranged and acted solely to get attention or if he was a so-called lone wolf motivated by extremist groups like isis. >> those are perhaps some questions we will get more insights into in that press conference from police we're awaiting. nbc's jim maceda, thank you. >> you bet. >>> back here in the u.s., the president was notified just in th

. >> this man who is haron monis an iranianlerric who is out on bail for vial sexual assault offenses. >> you hear the loud explosions behind me. i don't know if it's gunfire or some sort of small explosive device. that's certainly gunfire. >> you can see a woman there from these live pictures from martin place being carried out by officers. >> i can just see now, i don't know whether you can see on this live shot a whole bunch of paramedics are running up martin place. >> ambulances are racing through past us now bringing patients out. we had an ambulance driver just ask the camera people to move out of the way because they had a patient they needed to bring out. >> it was really very sad and we were waiting, everyone, the authorities, ambulance and fire all indeed were waiting for this siege to end. they have to end eventually. >> 16 or so hours this whole thing went on. this past september the australian government raised its national public terror alert from medium to high because they were responding to a growing slight of australians to iraq or syria. they estimate about 250 aus

so chris, describe the hostage taker, this man, his name is man haron monis. had a good view of him. describe what he looked like, his interactions specifically with the hostages. >> yeah, look, we could see him in and out of those window shots throughout the day, women. he was wearing a white shirt, black cap, unshaven. you could see that menacing gun he had strapped on his left shoulder. it was a pump action shotgun. at times, he would take that off and jab it in the ribs of the hostages as they were there. he was always present lurking in the background. you can only imagine what was going through the minds of the hostages who were trapped underneath his gaze. we didn't see much emotional reaction from the gunman. at one stage about 4:00 local time, a group of five hostages managed to escape from this side of the cafe. at that point, we could see from in here the face of the gunman turned aggressive. he was very aggressive and annoyed. he started shouting at the hostages, i presume that he was saying something about stay still, get down, don't move. and you

. >> man haron monis, a self-pro claimed cleric, known to australian police and out on bail on other charges. >> these words are my bull elt. >> he made headlines with the words, accused of writing abusive letters to fallen soldiers who died in afghanistan. calling them murderers and child killers. he pleaded guilty and was put on probation. his campaign continued. he was born in iran, coming to australia as a refugee in 1996. over the years he declared himself a sheikh and protest against the australian government. >> he is a type of guy who is a thug that wants to do it in the name of jihad. he is not affiliated with a mosque. he hung a black banner in the window, he had no known links to i.s.i.l. >> he sought to cloak his actions with the symbolism of the i.s.i.l. death toll. tragically, there are people ready to engage in politically motivated violence. >> after pleading guilty to the hate mail, he was charged as an accessory in his ex-wife's murder, months later charged with sexual assault, accused of abusing dozens of women in his time working as a self-proclaimed healer. both

this guy, man haron monis, was very active on twitter. he wrote, shame on those australiaterror terrorist australians. why don't they just put you at the top of the line? >> this is something that we would like to do, and we would like to give groups cep giving experts oh reporting status. too often we look at activity on social media as just recrui recruitment. these kinds of activities that we're seeing now. it also becomes a sounding board and echo chamber where he can feed his animosity and his hate. >> you think that it actually makes the individual the lone wolf even more extreme because of the fact that they can post all this and the feedback that they get back online. >> this guy had a lot of followers. he had a facebook page that had been taken down, not before it 14,700 likes. so again, it would seem someone like that would come to the attention of american companies. why is it not happening? there is just too much out there? >> it may be that there is certainly a lot of propaganda out there and they get a lot of complaints, but

the hostage-taker man haron monis was one of three people killed at the siege at a cafe. monis is born in iran but sought asylum in australia in 1996. last year, he was also charged as an accessory in the murder of his ex-wife, who had family in hayward. man haron monis has a connection to the bay area. he was charged as a said as an accessory in the murder of his ex-wife. her godfather told us that he had a bad feeling about the gunman from the first time they met. josephs out on bail. and, you know, if he would have still be in jail, this wouldn't have happened. >> the godfather says monis wrote letters to the families of australian war veterans killed in iraq and gloated about their deaths. >>> some breaking news in the middle east this morning. the taliban is claiming responsibility for an attack at a military school in northern pakistan. at least 126 people mostly children have been killed. that's according to police sources. terrorists entered the school after scaling the walls. army officials have killed six terrorists and rescued most of the hostages. the pakistan

the gunman, his name is haron monis. he had a long and troubled history with police, but a lot of people now wondering about the black flag the hostages were forced to display during that standoff. let me talk to paul cruickshank. he's our cnn terrorism analyst. paul, given what you've seen thus far, does this absolutely scream lone wolf to you? >> yes, short answer this appears to be a lone gunman, a lone operator, somebody inspired by isis but not somebody with connections to the isis organization. it appears he did this to retaliate for australian air strikes in iraq against isis. combat aircraft have planned 140 sorties over iraq in recent weeks. this follows calls by isis for lone wolf attacks around the world, western world, including specifically australia. >> what do you make? he just had two demands one to talk to the prime minister and two he wanted him to bring a black isis flag and we see this flag in the window, though, as it was explained to me. it was the flag of al qaeda. what's the difference, paul? >> i

the assailant, man haron monis, though known to police, believed to have planned and carried out theack on his own. u.s. officials have told cnn consistently that such lone wolfs are the terrorists most likely the strike on u.s. soil. >> the new phenomenon that i see that i'm very concerned about is somebody who's never met another member of that terrorist organization, never trained at one of the camps, who is simply inspired by the social media, the literature, the propaganda, the message to commit an act of violence in this country. >> i would say the most likely type of attack is one of these home-grown violent extremists or lone offenders in the united states. and the rise of isis and the number of people going to syria whether they're fighting with isis or fighting just in the conflict there against assad, the likelihood does go up. >> reporter: the threat threw more grave with an alarming fatwa or islamic decoration by this man. the senior isis leader called for lone wolf attacks against all members of the anti-isis coalition, including the u.s., the uk and australia. since th

. >> he's an iranian cleric by the name of haron monis. we understand he was granted political asylum in australia. >> good day, i'm andrea mitchell in washington where we are monitoring breaking news from australia, from sydney. the sudden and violent end to a hostage standoff in the heart of that city a little more than an hour ago, tactical police stormed a cafe where customers and employees were taken hostage. you can hear gun fire and explosions. there are reports, not confirmed by nbc news, of injuries and possible fatal outs from the scene. we're waiting word on the condition of the suspect, haron monis, a self-described cleric and activists with a criminal background. joining me is nbc's jim maceda from london and sarah. sarah, first to you. you've been on duty for hours. tell us the latest you know about the suspect and the situation. >> well, the laitest is that we still see plenty of police presence here, andrea. we still see police cars. just a moment ago more hegd dad down to the scene. this is the mop-up stage of the situatio

police raided it 16 hours after man haron monis took captives. prime minister aboth said he was not on a terror watch list. >> in pakistan, officials say the siege is over at a military run school. 130 were killed when the pakistani taliban attacked, most of the dead children. the taliban said it attacked that school in retaliation for military operations nearby. john has been tracking the story for us. what is the latest that we are hearing? >> the latest is just in the last few seconds, as you just announced, that the siege is form ally over. they had one gunman holed up that they couldn't get to, now have gotten to him. although the taliban targeted schools in the past, nothing like the scale that weaver seen overnight. it's been a few months since they launched an attack anywhere near as brazen as this, in the city which is the gateway to afghanistan, where the u.s. puts material into when it wants to transport it into afghanistan. six armed men entered the school. there were exams underway. one eyewitness telling al jazeera that when the fir

offer my condolences for loss of a member of your family about. >> self plaiment proclaimed clen haron monirveg. monis. between 2007 and 2009, monis sent leforts like it to several families. they outraged the australian public. monis was charged and convicted. here he stands outside another court wearing chains claiming to be tortured in prison. the 50-year-old is no stranger to the police or courts. he was born in iran and came to australia as a refugee. at the time of the siege he was facing charges to being accessory to the murder of his ex wife. there are charges of indecent and sexual assault from his time as a self proclaimed spiritual healer. 300 hours of community service and put on a two-year good behavior bond. monis always claimed the letters were purely political, to oppose australian involvement in the afghan war, he took the case to the australian high court but he was denied three days before the siege began. >> in pennsylvania a man suspected of killing five people has barricaded himself. inside a house where two people were killed. also suspect ed of killing two other peopl

his name is man haron monis.'s hear more from prime minister tony abbott. >> the perpetrator is a disturbing individual with a long history of crime and mental instability and infatuation with extremi extremism. it is interesting the isil occult seems to attract people like that. >> the two victims are lawyer katrina dawson and the lindt store manager tori johnson. there is a floral memorial for the victims. we have the latest from andrew stevens. the young barrister and mother of three is heart breaking and the store manager. what can you tell us about them? >> reporter: he was the store manager there. his parents put out a tribute to them praising their beloved tori. there has been outpouring to johnson and both of them because they are the innocent victims here in sydney. it has shocked the city. there is a massive flower memorial. so many people walking past carrying bunches of flowers to pay respects to what happened in that hostage crisis. now, it looks like and we cannot confirm this, there are still no de

the gunman, man haron monis can be seen through the windows. confirmation from a police sniper in the final minutes that there's casualties. in recent months the government started so tighten anti-security laws designed to give greater power to agencies and police launched several raids on suspected terrorists. the focus on terrorist attacks came in september as participation in coalition fights was confirmed. attacks on western nation, including australia. criminologist vince hurley was a negotiator with the new south wales police, he says there's indication that man haron monis was answering that. therefore, there's no need for an increase in concern about terrorism. >> it wasn't a political target, it wasn't the opera house, the harbor bridge, it was a cafe. i don't think that it was a terrorist related incident at all. >> reporter: many more details will emerge about the siege, and whether a change to security laws will be made because of it. >>> 220 journalists are in prisons around the world. that is nine more people compared to 2013. the

his name man haron monis.me minister tony abbott addressed concerns about the gunman. >> it is pretty obvious the perpetrator was a deeply disturbed individual, a long history of crime, a long history of mental instability and infatuation with extremism. it is interesting the isil death cult seems to attract people like that. >> the two hostages killed have been named. lawyer katrina dawson and lindt store manager tori johnson. the city of sydney is grieving this loss this morning with a very big floral arrangement. a mound of flowers near the siege. cnn's andrew stevens joins us live from sydney with the latest. good morning, andrew. >> reporter: good morning, john. it is a beautiful memorial. i have just been down there to look at that. there are still hundreds of people paying their last respects to brave people who died in that hostage crisis. the flowers and arrangements continue to pour in as people come in to share their common grief here. sydney has not seen anything like this since the 1970s and certa

and he was talking about the particular character of man haron monis, the gunman at the center of this. it is his belief that monis, while he was somebody who had some mental instability and problems that there is a sense that some of what was happening in the world with isis was certainly known by him, and that that may have enflamed him and enflamed his passion. here in the city, though, most people are remembering the victims. there has been a shrine, if you will, erected at the scene on martins place of that cafe where it all began. people are coming from all over the city, bringing flowers, leaving them there, remembering those who died. milissa? >> nbc's sara james, thank you. >>> now to that massive ongoing electronic attack on sony pictures. a major figure in hollywood is shifting blame in the whole situation. aaron sorkin, creator of the west wing, is going after the news media for reporting on the stolen e-mails, and also anybody who is reading what's in them. nbc's joe fryer reports. >> reporter: award winning screenwriter aaron sorkin is penning a different kind of script,

man haron monis was placed on the list in 2009. he had been sending offenser letters to families of dead soldiers. >>> most of the federal government will stay in operation for nine months. president obama side a $1.1 trillion spending bill into law. the department of homeland security will only receive money through february. >>> napster's cofounder gave stanford $24 million for allergy research. he is allergic to various items. his donation will create a new research center to cure allergies for a single treatment. >>> 65-year-old alan gross was convicted of espionage in cuba. he have released today in exchange for three cuban prisoners in the u.s. the u.s. will now begin talks with cuba to normalize full diplomatic relation. >>> i'm anne makovec live in marin county where there is a state of emergency in effect because of the recent storms that means the county is now eligible to apply for one million dollars in state and federal aid. they have a lot of problems with street level flooding here in tiburon. several intersections w

scam artist, oh, yeah, liar, scam artist, you know,. >> reporter: he told me he never trusted man haron monis. but he was still shocked to learn that he was the gunman behind the siege in sydney. >> i never thought he would do something like that, no. >> reporter: can like met monis when he married his god daughter. he was abusive. he came here to stay in hayward seeking refuge. >> he was abusing her. . >> she returned to australia and she was murdered, stabbed and burned 6 months later. monis was accused of being an accessory but was out on bail. if he would still be in jail this wouldn't have happened. >> reporter: kalik told me he realized monis was an extremist when he found out he was writing to families of victims of the war in iraq gloating with their death. >> they were all innocent. >> reporter: kalik said one of the lies he told was about his nationality. he claimed to be egyptian and had a passport to back it up. it wasn't until yesterday that kalik learned he was iranian. in hayward, christin ayers, kpix 5. >> monis was 50. the australian prime minister says that while he had a lo

: australian prime minister tony abbott says an urgent review is under way to determine why man haron monis the gunman responsible for the siege that killed two hostages was once on the country's terror watch list but was removed from it in 2009. >> we do need to know why he seems to have fallen off our security agency's watch list. >> reporter: despite what monis told the hostages, police confirmed his backpack did not contain a bomb. it is still unclear if the two hostages were killed by the suspect or were caught in the barrage of gunfire when police stormed in. susan mcginnis, cbs news. >>> mourning continues today in pakistan. at least 140 people died when seven taliban gunmen stormed the military run school yesterday and started shooting. most of the victims were children. one young survivor said at first, no one realized what was happening. [ non-english language ] >> he says we were doing our school work. suddenly we heard firing and the teacher told us not to be afraid, that maybe it was a drill. >> the pakistani military killed all seven attackers. they were from the same terroris

thereafter. >> we are getting new information in to cnn as we discussed in that conversation, man haron monisprior arrest alleging he was accessory to the murder of his ex-wife. she was stabbed repeatedly then set on fire last year. monis was released on bail. well now we're hearing from the godfather to that murder victim. here's what he had to say monday night to our affiliate kgo in california's bay area. >> so she's murdered and he gets out on bail. >> bail. >> your opinion of that? >> no, i mean, you know, i mean when we were there, you know, nothing happened to him but when we came back four months later they finally arrested him and we were so happy that finally justice has been done then two weeks later found out they put him out on bail and if he was still in jail, those innocent victims, you know, wouldn't have died. you know, they should have just locked him up and threw the key away. >> now, the victim's godfather added that monis used to beat his ex-wife, force her to wear the hijab all the time and forebode her from talking to, quote, outsiders. so very disturbed individual, ind

the siege, the hostage-taker was identified as j iranian-born man and self- proclaimed sheikh, haron monis on bail on charges of sexual assault and accessory to murder. in 2009, monis appeared at a sydney courthouse, for writing abusive letters to families of australian soldiers killed in afghanistan. ak#manistan. >> this pen is my gun and these words are my bullets. i'll fight with these weapons against oppression. to promote peace. >> warner: australian soldiers fought with the u.s.-led coalitions in both iraq and afghanistan against al-qaeda and the taliban. more recently, australia joined the 60 nation coalition to fight islamic state militants taking part in air strikes over iraq in early october. just this past september, australian police made dozens of raids to disrupt an alleged plot by islamic state group supporters to behead australian citizens.ç >> woodruff: we'll get more from sydney and hear about the u.s. intelligence take on what happened after the news summary. oil and stocks picked up today where they left off last week going south. the price of crude sank below $56 a ba

martha: so who is sheik man haron monis? video of human action, law enforcement very familiar with him. he has been outspoken with families of fallen australian soldiers and this is the most recent pictures we have and video we are doing right now learning more about the hostage situation and injuries potentially as well right after this break. stay with us. aren't enough, adding crestor lowers bad cholesterol up to 55%. crestor is not for people with liver disease, or women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. tell your doctor all medicines you take. call your doctor if you have muscle pain or weakness, feel unusually tired, have loss of appetite, upper belly pain, dark urine, or yellowing of skin or eyes. these could be signs of serious side effects. i'm down with crestor! make your move. ask your doctor about crestor. martha: two big stories for you this morning. the first one in sydney. we watch as the gunfire exploded and we saw hostages running out. you can see the scene 2:54 a.m. in the morning where the

a man named sheikh man haron monis.ntered a cafe, a chocolate cafe, people were fathering, getting drinks, holding 17 hostages for close to 15 hours and this scene playing out. leland: 3:00 in the morning there in sydney. you're looking at pictures around you can hear some of the explosions and gunfire as that siege ended. laura tunstall, australia yeahs channel 9, two people were killed. one of which was the hostage and one was the gunman himself. that is still very unconfirmed information. and there are also reports of an a number of injuries for an extensive gunfight that went on inside the cafe. the sheikh a known radical islamic there inside of sydney where they have been worried about these kind of terrorist threats for so long. joining us a.b. stoddard, columnist from "the hill" and charlie hirt, columnist from "the washington times." you watch the pictures coming out of sidey, awe trail yaw, and you have to -- australia, and you have to ask yourself, is this any country or city? >> any wannabe can easily hatch a

you to offer my condolences for the loss of a member of your family. >> self declared cleric man haron monis, reading a letter he wrote to the wife of a coalition soldier killed in afghanistan. >> i ask you give patience for that incident. >> it wasn't the only one. between 2007 and 2009, monis sent letters just like it to several families. they outraged the australian public. monis was charged and convicted. but his campaigning continued. here he stands outside another court wearing chains, claiming to have been tortured in prison. the 50-year-old is no stranger to the police or courts. he was born in iran and came to australia as a refugee. at the time of the siege he was facing charges of being an accessory to the murder of his ex wife. then there's the more than 50 allegations of indecent and sexual assault, from his time working as a spiritual healer. the premier of new south wales, was asked was he concerned that monis was currently out on bail. >> there was a vicious horrendous attack that has taken place in the heart of our city and there are many questions that will come in the comi

reading and hearing this morning is tori johnson actually tried to wrestle the gun away from man haron monis. and he was unsuccessful, and that is when he was shot. there are unconfirmed reports. the city has seen all morning people coming in to lay flowers at a makeshift memorial as close as they can get to the coffee shop, which is still cordoned off by police. we're also being told that the body of man monis is still in that shop. forensic are in there, obviously thoroughly looking for all sorts of evidence they can use to try and piece together what exactly happened there. of course talked to the hostages as well. we haven't heard much from the hostages so far. expecting those stories to start coming out over the next few hours and days. ? and along with those who were killed, a number of people were injured. up to five people were hurt. what's their condition right now? >> reporter: well, as far as we know, none serious, none life threatening. they are in hospital with various degrees of injuries. a policeman was hit in the face by pellets from the shotgun which was being used by the ho

to you to offer my condolences for the loss of a member of your family. >> self proclaimed, man haron monis,. >> i have got you patience for that bad incident. >> it wasn't the only one between 2007 and 2009, monis sent letters just like its to several families. they outraged the australian public. monis was charged and convicted but his campaigning continued. here he stands outside another court wearing chains, claiming to be tortured in prison. no stranger to the courts, came to australia as a refugee, at the time of the siege he was facing charges of being a accessory to the measured of his wife. then charges of indecent and sexual assault. self proclaimed spiritual healer. sentenced to 300 hours of community service and put on a two year good behavior bond. monis always claimed the letters were purely political and intended for the families to oppose the war. his appeal was thrown out last friday three days before the siege began. andrew potter, al jazeera. >> before we go to our guest we want to take to you this live event happening right now, australian prime minister tony abbott are

. >> reporter: the gunman man haron monis can be seen lo the windows of the cafe. in the final moments came confirmation from the police sniper that there were injuries. anti-terror laws to give greater power to agencies occurred, and at the same time police launched raids on suspected terrorists. the increase focussed on the possibility of terrorist attacks came in september as australia confirmed the participation in coalition strikes against i.s.i.l. fighters in iraq. leaders of the group called for attacks on several western nations, including australia. criminologist vince hurley is a former hostage negotiator with the swales police and said there is no indication that man haron monis was answering that call. therefore there's no need for an increase in concern about terrorism. >> it wasn't a political target. it wasn't the opera house, it wasn't the himming, it was a -- hij, it was a caf -- harbor bridge, it was a cafe. i don't think it was terror related. >> reporter: more details will emerge about the seem and whether changes to security laws will be made b

he was named earlier today as haron moni

two died and the gunman, man haron monis have long criminal records.ties say he was deeply disturbed. >>> today representatives from four major united states cities including san francisco will make their pitch to host the 2024 olympic games. leaders from boston, los angeles, and washington, dc, will join the bay area as the meeting which includes a pop-up stadium in brisbane to hold track and field events and opening and chosing ceremonies. the shipyard will be the site of the olympic village. the winning city compete against international cities for the host honors. >> now a look at live doppler hd. where are the showers, mike? >> we will show you that after i show you temperatures. we are in the upper 40's to low 50's until you get to san francisco where we are in the mid-50's. now, we will get to live doppler hd and i will show you where the best shower is rolling right now, north canyon parkway north of 580 around livermore, portola, heart man road and this is going to head across the diabolo range across the windmill and possibly hit brentwood an

he's been identified as haron monis. he is been identified as also once sending hate letters to soldiers. he was in court as last friday. what do we know about him so far? >> i'm going to get to the suspect in a minute, heather. i'm going to start with federal response here in washington to the seige in sydney. u.s. sources confirmed to us that the homeland security secretary jay johnson, james comby and nicholas rasmussen were fully engage and offering help to the australians. he was born in iran and moved to australia inform 1996. he was known to the authorities and objected to the australian forces in afghanistan. the seige is considered a ak of -- act of terrorism. it's worth noting within hours of the seige, his web page with a reported statement of support for isis was taken down. >> it really makes isis in that way much more lethal and dangerous than al qaeda was as far as being able to stop and anticipate these attacks and shows we cannot let our guard down, how this threat is more dangerous and in more ways more

also questions about why the hostage-taker, man haron monis, was ever allowed to commit this crime inirst place. we know he had a lengthy criminal history and was on bail for a very serious crime. being accused of being an accessory to murder. the prime minister refusing to confirm reports that iran his home country had tried to extradite him 14 years ago. cameron price, sky news, sydney. >> now, we're also learning more about the reported acts of he heroism from the hostages killed. sometimes you get glimmers of light. anna coren has more from sydney. >> reporter: today as acts of harrowing escapes and desperate moments emerge exact details about the final moments of the sydney siege are still unknown. >> i do feel we've lost our innocence. ♪ >> reporter: citizens of sydney attempt to replace the grim scenes with bright memorials to those whose last hours were so dark. >> he's wasted two very precious lives, and one of them was my friend. >> reporter: the gunman who traumatized so many at the lindt chocolat cafe in martin place died along with two of his hostages. tori johnson, age 3

he has been identified as man haron monis, 50 years old, born in iran, and received political asylumn australia in 1996. he is a self stylized chic -- sheikh with a media addiction and self-proclaimed black magic expert. he is well known by police at a deeply troubled man with a long history of run-ins with the law, including the pending case of the killing of his former wife. >> let's change and focus on president francois hollande. >> he paid tribute to a speech he made at this easy and, a rare and passionate defense of the benefits of immigration. you can see the front page of the liberation. an editorial says it is in important speech, the kind of fighting each we have not heard from the president in a while. but other papers are not so impressed. the communist paper says, sure, this is a beautiful speech, but also a bunch of hot air. hollande only words for immigrants, nothing of substance. he avoided one promise that the socialists have made for a long time to immigrants that they would be allowed to vote in france. and once again, he avoided this topic altogether. the right-le

infatuation with extremism and mentally instability. >> man haron monis opposed australia's role in the u.s.-led war in afghanistan, and had also been charged with sending harassing letters to the families of dead australian soldiers. the obama administration faces a deadline today to decide whether it will attempt to force "new york times" investigative reporter james risen to reveal his source. in one of the most significant press freedom cases in decades, risen has vowed not to testify at the trial of jeffrey sterling, who is accused of giving him classified information that revealed a botched cia plot to disrupt iran's nuclear program. the justice department has indicated it may stop trying to compel risen to reveal his source, but still subpoena him testify at sterling's trial. if he refuses to testify, risen could still face jail time. meanwhile, the obama administration may try to force another journalist to testify in another trial over bombings by al qaeda. preet bharara, the u.s. attorney in manhattan, has asked attorney general eric holder to approve a subpoena of "60 minutes

he was out the streets. >> reporter: it was a lone gunman not part of a terrorist plot. >> man haron monishas a connection to the bay area. he was charged as the accessory in the murder of his ex-wife with family in hayward. his godfather had a bad feeling about his from the first time they met. >> he was out on bail. and you know, if he would have still be in jail, this wouldn't have happened. >> the godfather says monis wrote letters to the families of australian war veterans killed in iraq and gloated about their deaths. >>> the city of san bruno wants the california public utilities commission to release 65,000 emails between them and pg&e. the emails are from 2010 to 2014 about the deadly pipeline explosion in san bruno. eight people died, 66 injured. earlier this year an email exchange surfaced between the commission officials and pg&e executives about the pending cases and the selection of judges for the cases. >>> bart is going to replace three old escalators that keep breaking down. two are at powell station, the other at civic center. bart is holding open meetings over the next 6

. >> he's an iranian cleric by the name of haron monis.in washington where we are monitoring breaking news from australia, from sydney. the sudden and violent end to a hostage standoff in the heart of that city a little more than an hour ago, tactical police stormed a cafe where customers and employees were taken hostage. you can hear gun fire and explosions. there are reports, not confirmed by nbc news, of injuries and possible fatal outs from the scene. we're waiting word on the condition of the suspect, haron monis, a self-described cleric and activists with a criminal background. joining me is

we aren't sure it's him, but the new south wales police, when we put that name to them, man haron monis, it's not an incorrect name. >> it was not clear how hostages were released, a short while before the final cafe we saw more hostages coming through the door. >> let me give a quick run down of the events as we understand them. the siege began at 9:45. it was peak time. we don't know how many hostages were taken at that stage. a few hours into the siege, three and then another two hostages got out of that cafe. some by the front door. some by the fire exit. they ran out and ran in to the arms of police, who had surrounded the cafe. we don't know if they were released by the hostage taker or escaped. for a long time nothing seemed to move. the streets are quiet, the area cordoned. the whole of the city was shot down by the police. but on the surface it seemed quiet, and we didn't know what was going on inside. much earlier in the seeing situation we did see hostages with their hands up against the windows. we saw a black flag and words in arabic. that was held up in the window as well

he was named earlier today as haron monis, a man with a long list of allegations. >> 17 hostages includinghe firemen we saw escaping during the day. three dead now. it was initially two, but a third died at hospital, including the gunman himself. the commissioner describes him as a lone gunman. there were no explosives. there were all of these rumors floating around on twitter that the gunman put out himself saying there were two palms on the premises and two bombs throughout the rest of the city. there were no explosives found. the most important question the commissioner answered was why the police chose to go in at 2:00 a.m. with all guns blazing and he said the answer was because they had seen, they had heard gunshots coming from and died rid -- from inside. as soon as they heard those gunshots, they initiated their emergency plan and went in. what we saw, all those explosions were not from their. -- there. they were in fact stun guns from the police. >> and some more details emerging about the gunman today. he was an iranian born refugee. it seems he had ace ring of -- a string of con

internet world you will have people who will respond crazy or not. >> that is what we saw with haron monis16-hour siege. 27 hostages takenned. shooter killed. two hostages killed. the eventually the police stormed this little cafe. do you expect something like that here? >> no. i don't expect this particular attack because, you know, if you take a look at robert hasan, the fort hood shooter. >> yes. >> went out and killed people. abdulmutallab killed the plane. shahzad in times square wanted to detonate the truck and kill people. taking hostages is not what they do unless over in the middle east where they put on the video and behead folks. this stipe of hostage taking -- gerri: one off, strange. >> didn't fit the script. gerri: frightening and really causing terror for people at any rate, right? whether he is connected to any larger group directly or not it doesn't really matter in some ways because it still strikes fear in the heart of so many people. >> these individuals are referred to as inspired but not necessarily instructed. the question if they it could happen here, it can really

else identified as man haron asn haron monis he is a described as a self described imam. so far authorities are not commenting on whether the incident was the work of a terrorist network or if the suspect acted alone. >> reporter: we have been waiting for days to see the sunshine, when will we see it before the rain moves in again. >> karen rogers is filling in for david, she is on the terrace waiting for sunshine. >> reporter: if you stand out here you can see breaks of blue mixings with the clouds. it's better than a half-hour ago. let's show you the satellite image as you look at satellite and radar. yes, you can see cloud cover here, don't you, they have sunny skies in new york and sunshine along the east of new jersey, the clouds are trying to break here and there in the city. you'll get cloud cover, but peeks of sunshine here ascertain there. in washington, d.c. you can see the clouds eroding down to the southwest. the clouds are stuck over us. how about the temperatures right now? 45 degrees in philadelphia. that's not too bad, where we should be for this time this