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Latest on the Bangladesh Hostage Situation; Thirteen Hostages Rescued. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired July 2, 2016 - 03:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:00:33] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello I'm Natalie Allen live from CNN Center at Atlanta, welcome to our viewers in the U.S. and around the world. We continue to bring you breaking news out of Bangladesh. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

The Bangladesh new Prime Minister says, a siege at a cafe in the capital is over we're getting early reports but here is what we've learn so far because the outcome of this was somewhat remarkable. Bangladeshi officials say at least 13 hostages have been rescued but authorities could not save everyone.

The siege began when gunman stormed a popular restaurant on Friday evening in the diplomatic quarter there at the capital. They held as many as 20 hostages and killed two police officers in a gun battle early on.

Hours later some 14 hours later police commandos moved in to end it all, there are completing reports whether one gunman was captured but Bangladeshi officials say six gunmen were killed.

ISIS claims responsibility for the attack but U.S. officials doubt that claim thinking it sounds more like an Al Qaeda operation. I'll have some analysis on that from the expert in just a moment.

But now let's go to CNN's Andrew Stevens he's been with us for the many hours. We've been covering the story, getting developments from Hong Kong and learning the nationalities of the people inside that restaurant, Andrew.

ANDREW STEVENS.CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right Natalie. It's time to get a little bit more clarity on the nationality inside the restaurant as you say and its not with the numbers but numbers I should add at this stage are still not confirmed, we don't know exactly how many attackers there were, we don't know exactly how many hostages there were in that restaurant. But we are expecting a press conference anytime now from the Army to hopefully will be able to get some further details from that.

What we get here from a nearly a press conference given by the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh, is that there were 13 hostages rescued in the -- when the restaurant was stormed by security forces up to a hundred commandos involved in the storming of that restaurant. Thirteen hostages survived, six gunmen were killed and one was captured. So there is one of the gunmen in captivity at the moment.

Now, amongst the hostages we know now that at least the nationalities of at least three. Two was Sri Lankans who escaped unharmed, the Strike and Hike Ignition is being tweeting saying that they have met the two Sri Lankans they are alive and well. And one -- the other -- the third person was a Japanese national. Sheikh Hasina rang the Prime Minister of Japan, Shinz? Abe and to tell him that one Japanese had been rescued along with 12 others.

Now he is injured but the extend of his injuries are thought not to be too serious however he was one of eight Japanese who were in the restaurant at the time of the attack, despite of the other seven at this stage is unknown.

But as I say this stage Natalie, we still don't have confirms numbers about the number of hostages and also the number of attackers.

ALLEN: As far as this area, this specific area goes, one can perhaps, understand why a popular European south restaurant in a more of a upscale area of the city where expats or our foreigners would be the target.

STEVENS: Yes, well, ISIS has claimed and there has been some doubts, it cast on whether that's actually an authentic plan or not. But ISIS certainly has been telling its supporters, it's proxies around the world to take action against soft targets around the world and this would certainly classify itself as a soft target, it was in a -- the diplomatic area of Bangladesh -- of Dhaka.

It's not marked area, most by definition. The restaurant itself known a holy artisan bakery was a bakery by day and then eatery by night. It was very popular, so European style, it was popular amongst both the expats leaving and working in that area and also by young Bangladeshis in particular who also prepared to that area.

So it was seen as a place where expats, were westerners would congregate which have been targeted obviously in the past by ISIS attacks.

Now, the security in those areas in a diplomatic area would be hired and many other parts of the city but still nothing to repel between six and eight gunman carrying assault weapons and by the sounds and also grenades.

[03:05:14] So once they got into that restaurant the police tried to attack them, there was a fire fight in during which two police were killed one a senior member of the local police station. And up to 40 other people injured. We don't know how many were police and how many were by standers because this was happen around about 8:39 in the evening on Friday.

It is Ramadan, in the evening Muslim's breakfast, they get together to eat and these could've been according to some people an eve more busy time than would be normal on the Friday night in that area because it was Ramadan. But certainly the remarkable side of this Natalie, is still the fact that given that the fire power that was involved from -- and the hostages -- the hostage takers apparent intentions that the 13 people to be rescued we don't know the condition of all of them, how serious any of their injuries are. But the 13 of them to be rescued alive in itself is quite remarkable.

ALLEN: Certainly is and we'll talk more about it now with our guess Andrew Stevens there in Hong Kong for us. Andrew thanks again. But let's get more analysis on what has happened there in Bangladesh and the result, that who was behind this.

Rodger Shanahan joins me now, he's an associate professor with Australian National Universities National Security College and he is live via a Skype from Sydney.

Rodger, we'll get into more about who might have been perhaps, behind this but it does seem remarkable after some 14 hours that these terrorists were still hold up there and hostages were alive what do you make of this out come after such so many hours and not knowing anything?

RODGER SHANAHAN, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY: Well, suddenly you've got decided that some -- what's the positive insight there is some hostages survived the attack and what were seeing in the past on these kind of hostage situations is that Kansas' survival of I think were taking by these kind of groups and has been low in the past.

So that has to be a net positive that in fact that if it is Islamic state they have then in the past and although there are always exceptions to have and even past tenement to hold on to hostages in these kind of situations, as they tend to have the view that they did to kill ISIL, the direction or their inspiration is to kill people, so in fact that they took hostages and that hostages has survived is unusual in these kind of cases.

ALLEN: Right, so does that should doubt for you that ISIS even though it's claiming responsibility was behind this, since Al Qaeda also operates on the Indian subcontinents and the two of course, trying to get more attention the other.

SHANAHAN: Well, certainly, Natalie, we're going to have to wait until we know more information. But the kind of activities or that terrorists actions that have happened in Bangladesh over the past 12 to 24 months are being really small scale individual attacks on people using fairly basic implements.

This is a step up in the degree of complexity that we're seeing in the past. So it would appear to any case an organization with some -- at least some organizational structure on the one hand we have saying the Islamic state is any states but spokesperson calling for attacks against westerners particularly during Ramadan and we're saying that occurring in the past in Istanbul, in Yemen, in Lebanon and in France and, perhaps, in the United States. This would follow that pattern, so that's the kind of evidence that might lend us to believe that the Islamic state inspired if not directed. And also the fact the Islamic state may be organizations have claimed it.

On the other hand we as you pointed out we know that Al Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent is and has been active. But based, purely on what we know at the moment you would have to lean towards in the Islamic state style inspired attack.

ALLEN: And although -- thank police, people were rescued and the gunman died, this does signal a new day for Bangladesh, this is unprecedented and the government for some time has been in denial that it, perhaps, had an cell working in it's country.

[03:09:55] SHANAHAN: Well, certainly and you're correct in that. As I said what we've seen before individual attacks against bloggers, against LGBTI, against Hindu and catholic priests, so individual is using fairly basic weaponry, machetes, pistol, attack scene one or terrorists against individual target, this is a significant advancement in the kind of actions that's been taken.

And I think the Bangladeshi government, there's way of avoiding the fact that they have to acknowledge that there is cell radical Islamist in their country and if they had bullet having prosecuted one of those text, they certainly can't believe prosecuting more in the future.

ALLEN: Sadly that's true. Rodger Shanahan talking with me from Sydney thanks so much.

Earlier -- yes. Earlier I spoke with Steve Moore he's a CNN law enforcement contributor and a retired FBI special agent.

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STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: When you hear that a hundred of the RAB guys went in against six terrorist, don't think that it was a hundred guns against six because you have to go through -- in through three of four entrances at the most maybe.

You might get 12 guns on the hostages or on the hostage takers at one time, you are not, it's not going to be a hundred against six because your stack way back, the guys in the back can't shoot.

So this was certainly a -- by all appearances by what I'm hearing and going by statistics alone this an amazing assault.

ALLEN: Absolutely and you have said that these RAB had been training impart by U.S. officials who are six of them and they had a good reputation as far as being able to perform their job.

I want to ask you the fact that they waited to -- until daylight hours and sat through the darkness. Did that have any significant from the timing to you?

MOORE: It's interesting to me. I would again my curiosity is pitched on this. FBI hostage teams and most FBI SWAT teams are hostage rescue oriented.

We like to operate at night. We like to operate with undercover of darkness when that was in our favor. It is possible that the Bangladeshi RAB operates much more effectively in daylight. I do believe daylight operations give some of the advantage back to the hostage takers.

But I can't sit here and argue with that they did I'm just, you know, I'm going with the numbers and it appears to me that whatever choice they made was appropriate based on what I'm hearing.

ALLEN: And as you talk we're looking at this, you know, heavy weaponry they brought in there fortified vehicles and such that they weren't messing around when they decided to move in. And I also want to ask you since we know that terrorist historically are wanting to kill as many people as possible and have a death wish for themselves as well.

What were they doing sitting there these hours, perhaps, they're alive and they are hostages that are alive?

MOORE: I don't know. Seriously that this calls into question at least in my mind the level of training that these hostage takers had I'm thinking that they we're not battle hardened people of the Iraqi front.

They appeared when the RAB came in and experienced suicidal terrorist would have turned these guns not towards the RAB but what if turns his guns worth the hostages it's horrible as that sounds. It appears that they got into a 15 minute gun battle with the RAB which is not how ISIS usually act, which is not how Al Qaeda usually acts, they are in it for the body count.

And so yes, I'm -- I suspect we are going to learn a lot from this because it didn't follow right down what the list of things we know to be true about ISIS and Al Qaeda.

ALLEN: Right. They did know when they were going in, did they have bombs, did they have suicide vest? Apparently not they did blow up some grenades at the beginning and that's how many people got injured. But in fact if they didn't have suicide vest says something.

MOORE: That's interesting to me that, you know, and everybody is going back and forth the Al Qaeda versus ISIS, that fact that they used off the shell explosives rather ISIS who usually creates their own -- their TATP they make it, like apparently they did in Istanbul last week.

[03:15:08] They make it themselves and they -- it's a blitz attack and they kill and kill and they tend not to get into a hostage situations. These could be an outcast sign off that it was Al Qaeda. The thing about Al Qaeda though is they frown on killing innocent Islam adherence.

So it could be that part of the reason that a lot of hostages were killed is that it could be Al Qaeda and they refrain from killing Muslims. I don't know but these again a lot of people are going to be spending a lot of years trying to figure out what's going on here.

ALLEN: Well, as we mentioned earlier were expecting a news conference from Bangladesh and, perhaps, we will learn more in the next hour or so that was Steve Moore with me a short while ago.

After a short break the latest in the Turkey airport attack, we got the story of one victim who was in Istanbul to save his son from ISIS.

Also riving tension in Israel after serious of attack in the West Bank, the Israeli government respond and what Israel want from the international community.

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ALLEN: If you're just joining us again remarkable ending to a hostage standoff in Bangladesh. Commandos after 14 hours ended a hostage drama storming a restaurant in Dhaka that have been targeted attackers.

Bangladeshi officials say at least 13 hostages were freed and the military says six gunmen were shot dead. The prime minister adds one attacker was captured.

Up to eight gunman have been holding as many as 20 people inside the holy artisan bakery that's in Dhaka's diplomatic porter, it's believed some of the hostages were foreigners.

Local news outlets and witnesses reported they heard explosions as well as it all ended those may have or half has been part of a security clean up as officials cleared the building.

It all started Friday night local time as the terrorist laicized the cafe which was popular among expats and the diplomatic community there, European style restaurant.

Two police officers who tried to get into the restaurant early on were killed and a gun battle and 40 people were wounded at that time as well.

ISIS again claiming responsibility but the U.S. official told CNN Al Qaeda is also a possible culprit.

We look back at the terrorist attack in Istanbul. Now, a U.S. congressman says a notorious terrorist from Russia organize the attacks on Istanbul's airport earlier this week.

[03:20:09] One of the 43 victims was this man, he was chief of pediatrics at a Tunisian military hospital and a professor of medicine.

Senior International Correspondent, Nima Elbagir has more about him and about the attackers.

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NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The man who orchestrated this horror and unleashed on Istanbul's Ataturk airport Tuesday may now be known.

Through the suicide bombers who carried out the plots are being named by Turkey's state news agency.

Sighting an unknownymous prosecution source, it reports Rakim Bulgarov and Vadim Osmanov carried out the attacks.

As to the man who directed the operation U.S. officials tell CNN Akhmed Chatayev an ISIS lieutenant from Chechnya is likely behind the plot.

MIKE MCCAUL, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: He traveled to Syria on many occasions and then became one of the top lieutenants to the minister of war for the ISIS operations.

ELBAGIR: Chatayev is notorious with entire networks going by the nickname Akhmed One Arm.

JILL DOUGHERTY, KENNAN INSTITUTE ADVISORY BOARD: He was missing one arm. Use that -- reportedly used that fact to argue when he went to Europe to get refugees status, he said I have been tortured by the Russians.

The U.S. placed him on the terrorist list just last year but he's been around for a long time.

ELBAGIR: Investigators are digging in trying to find out more about the man seen running to the terminals brandishing weapons and detonating suicide bombs.

Turkey's President today condemning their actions and vowing to fight.

RECEP TAYYIP ERDO?AN, TURKISH PRESIDENT (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Terror and terrorists do not have religion, do not have nations, do not have a motherland. We are going to fight them with our soldiers, with our police and with our village guards.

ELBAGIR: Twenty-four people including 15 foreigners have now been detained according to Turkish state media. Police are also asking local residence about this security image showing these three men believed to be suspects.

Turkish authorities told us they believed the three attackers hold up for a month in an apartment in the Fatih district in Istanbul.

The three men they say came directly from Raqqa. With he investigation unfolds families are burying their loved ones.

Dr. Fathi Bayoudh knew ISIS all too well. His son had reportedly joined the group as a medic last year. A family friend says Bayoudh had been in Istanbul to help negotiate his sons rescue from the terror group, only to have extremely take his life instead.

Nima Elbagir, CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ALLEN: What a terrible lost and so many families are hurting right now, there are so many stories like that doctor right there. Our Dumalag Carajay has a heart breaking story of one of the youngest victims of the bombing. A Palestinian girl who escaped but in her mother's arms she lost a parent.

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DUMALAG CARAJAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Three-year-old Rafif (ph) survived the horror Tuesday's attack. Her mother Nasreen (ph) did not.

No one can explain to Rafif (ph) what happened or where her mother is. Numbers of Turkey's Palestinian community are taking care of Rafif (ph) keeping her distracted and smiling.

Her father Marwan (ph) can barely speak, he lost his wife. His friend Hammed (ph) lost his wife too. Hammed (ph) still on hospital in critical condition, his 3-year-old son Rayan is on life support.

The two Palestinian families arrived from Saudi Arabia where they lived for short holiday in Istanbul as they prepare to leave the airport the terrorist struck.

Rafif (ph) was in her mother's arms when the Nasreen (ph) was shot dead. Rafif (ph) was his by shrapnel in her leg.

MARWAN (PH), (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): They can't say they came to fight the military and the pressers they walked amongst us, they could see children Marwan (ph) says.

CARAJAY: Rafif's (ph) family, like so many here are Muslims.

(MARWAN) (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): People who claim to be Muslims with no mercy. I will teach my daughter not to hate, to love everyone, I will give her the best life he says.

CARAJAY: On Thursday night Marwan (ph) returned to the airport to put his wife's coffin on a plane. He lead an Islamic prayer for the dead. Marwan (ph) who promised Nasreen (ph) to take her home to the Palestinian territories to celebrate the Muslim festival (inaudible) to their family, instead they will gather to mourn her.

Dumalag Carajay, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:25:13] ALLEN: Israel says its aircraft to target in Hamas sites in Gaza after a rocket fire from the Palestinian territory within Israeli's city near its border. We're seeing video of the rocket strike now sighting government sources Jerusalem post before that rocket hit an emptied pre-school, it said no physical injuries were reported but the building sustained significant damage.

The rocket attack followed Israel sealing off parts of the West Bank, the lock down is in response to a series of attacks on Israeli fare including the stabbing death of a U.S. Israeli teenager as she slept in a settlement.

The Israeli governments ripped around, Hebron is tightening Israel says it's happen to respond to an increase in violence in the West Bank.

Oren Liebermann, reports on several deadly attacks by Palestinians that have prompted the idea to move in.

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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The last Friday of Ramadan has turned into a violent day in the West Bank. Although it never quite fully quieted down here after the daily attacks of late last year, you haven't seen a day like this in months.

Number of attacks all focused around the southern West Bank, we're tensions are generally very high between Israelis and Palestinians.

In response to the sudden optic the Israeli military sent two more battalions into the West Bank and ordered a closure of Hebron in the area around it, the largest city in the West bank to prevent more attacks.

An IDS spokesperson says humanitarian and medical access will be allowed or other access will be severely restricted. So let's go through these attacks.

Friday afternoon a shooter open fire on a car of Israelis near the settlement of Othniel killing a father and sending his wife and two of his teenage kids to the hospital.

Earlier Friday, Palestinian woman was shot and killed. Israeli military says she attempted to stab a boarder police officer near site holding the Jews and Muslims in Hebron and a Palestinian man died following clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces near Jerusalem.

The Palestinian ministry of health says he died after inhaling teargas used on protesters. Now this optic began Thursday morning, it's a murder of 13-year-old American Israeli Hallel Ariel as she slept in her bed in the settlement of Kiryat Arba her attacker a Palestinian teenager from a nearby village who was shot and killed at the scene.

Hundreds turned out for the funeral of this young girl. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the world to condemn the attacks and promised to demolish the home of the attacker.

Oren Liebermann, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: When we come back our top story. The terror attack in Bangladesh and how it all ended, that's right after this break. You're watching CNN live coverage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [03:30:20] ALLEN: If you're just joining us the latest on the siege in Dhaka, Bangladesh which is finally over after many, many hours. Army troops rescued hostages who have been held in a cafe for more than 13 hours.

Gunman stormed at the restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic order Friday night. Military officials say they killed six attackers. There are completing reports so for whether or not one was captured.

In the beginning of the siege, the gunman killed two police officers who try to move in on the restaurant and wounded 40 other people with grenade.

ISIS claims responsibility for this attack. But U.S. officials believe Al Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent was behind it.

In the past hour, we heard from an official in Bangladesh, the prime minister said, what Bangladesh must do to root out terror.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHEIKH HASINA, BANGLADESH PRIME MINISTER, (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We don't want these terrorist in Bangladesh. This type of situation is a first in Bangladesh. Until now, they were committing individual murders. But now suddenly they created this type of situation. What they did here was a very heinous act.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: The prime minister last hour. Let's go to CNN's Andrew Stevens, he's been helping us with all the developments from Hong Kong and a first statement from the government Andrew after this many, many hours of having to deal with this.

STEVENS: That's right Natalie, there have been immediate blackout for a long time during that siege which been off for 12 hours before the authorities, so the police stormed the restaurants. So there had been immediate blackout and details have been very, very hard to fix including how many attackers there were. And then how many hostages there were as well.

But Sheikh Hasina saying, they're underlining the fact that Bangladesh hasn't seen anything like this in its past. There have been several attacks. All those attacks that -- have targeted individuals and they have been fairly accrued attacks that chopped to death, they hacked to death. And these are people who are perceived to be enemies of the Islamist State.

But this -- on this scale with six to eight gunmen, heavily armed, they had assault weapons, they had grenades. And that they were coordinated enough to take on that restaurant. And then keep the military at bay -- there was a shootout involving the police in which two police died and 40 other were injured followed by that standoff and then at the storming of the restaurant.

We're starting to get to, I mean further details of the nationalities involved. At this stage we still we don't know for sure two nationals -- there were three foreigners involved that this we know the nationalities over the stage. Two Sri Lankan, they were unharmed. Let's go in the Sri Lankan high commission, and one Japanese citizen who was among the hostages who were rescued.

He did suffer injuries. But we believe they're not life-threatening. He was however, in company with seven other Japanese at the restaurant when the attack happened in the faith of the other seven Japanese at the stage are not known.

For the U.S. embassy has said that none of its staff were involved, they're all been accounted for the part that we still don't know anymore details about the people who were the hostages, who survives and who didn't, Natalie.

ALLEN: OK, hopefully we'll be hearing some identifications in the next 48 hours pressing on here.

It was interesting during long ordeal, Andrew, and you've been with us for many, many hours covering this. There was a blackout after this first happened. And then eerie, eerie quite for so many hours before all of sudden, so all kinds of official vehicles moving in.

STEVENS: Yes, there have been this blackout. And negotiations if there were any negotiations at all were at an impasse. We had one line from the government saying, that negotiations that authorities have attempted to negotiate with the gunman but haven't got anywhere.

So for 12 hours it was a standoff. The gunman inside at the cafe or the bakery, and they have very, very heavy police and military presence outside accordant of steel around the restaurant. And eventually it was broken when authorities decided they could no longer wait, they went there around about 7:00 -- between 7:00 and 8:00 in the morning. So they went in there in daylight.

[03:35:03] And if you speak to the FBI for example they say they were prefer operating under the cover of darkness. But in Dhaka they decided that they would go in and go in hard which they did. We have a standoff up a hundred commandos involved in that storming of the holy artisan restaurant.

So it was a very, very powerful storming to take on perhaps eight -- up to eight attackers. And we know that six attackers have been killed and one has been taken into custody. We don't know whether there is. And now that at large or whether there was, whether there's ever only seven, that's what we've been waiting for.

But the immediate blackout perhaps not surprising given the fact that in the past live television live reports have indicated to the gunman to the attackers inside the siege building, exactly what's going on outside. So they denied them that opportunity to see what was going outside by means of this total media blackout which is obviously made it very hard to get sort of full facts and information on the ground. But they slowly, slowly starting to come together now.

In fact, we're expecting a new conference any minute now with the Bangladesh military. And we're hoping to give a few more details or clarification on who was involved. And what actually happened.

ALLEN: Thank you Andrew, yes, we've just learn that that news conference has just started as soon as we get translation, we'll start to bringing the information to our viewers because finally we're learning how this all played out. Thank you, Andrew Stevens for us in Hong Kong.

Earlier my colleague Jonathan Mann spoke with journalist Leone Lakhani she has family in Dhaka, she knows that bakery and restaurant very well were the terror attack took place.

Here are her thoughts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEONE LAKHANI, JOURNALIST: They're also concerned about what this could mean to their everyday lives, will they be seeing more attacks like this, what will this mean for security. They've never had anything like this before, it's completely unprecedented.

And, you know, the government been very adamant that they don't have any, you know, Al Qaeda or ISIS or foreign extremist cells in the country, they blame previous attacks targeted attacks in the past couple of years on local groups.

But, you know, as we were hearing from your security expert, it doesn't matter whether they were local groups or foreign groups or groups inspired by foreign groups. At the end of the day this attack was organized, it was a organized gun attack. And it means that they have that the government has to address that there is an extremist problem of some sort on the ground and they have to deal with it now, Jonathan.

JONATHAN MANN, CNN ANCHOR: And the target was such an unlikely one, the totally Artisan Bakery Cafe, would anyone you know have ever felt threatened or endanger going to a place like that?

LAKHANI: Not until today. I'm sure from now on they would. And it is a high profile target it's a bakery, after 6 p.m. it turns into a restaurant, it's got a very European fell, it's got a garden, you know, coffee, expressos. It's a very -- it's very unusual for Bangladesh, for Dhaka specifically.

And it attracts in a lot of people and there is, in the area of quite an absolute area as we've been saying, a lots of expats, a lots of diplomats in the area. So, no, it was a very popular area. But we can see why it would be a target because it was quite profile. You had high profile people who went there. It was a high profile neighborhood. As we've been saying it's a very densely populated city Jonathan.

So anything that happens in a cafe like that which is high profile on its own because of its customers. And the area -- and because it's an diplomatic area. So we can understand why it could be target. But until today, no one would have suspected anything like this there on the ground, Jonathan. MANN: What about security, obviously you can't every restaurant or cafe in Bangladesh secure. But kind of security measures were in place around that neighborhood? And how of a second look is that going to require now?

LAKHANI: You know, there wasn't security in the sense that, you know, you have roadblocks or anything like that in front of cafes and restaurants till now. The security had been stepped up recently because of the attacks we've seen in the past couple of years, especially since last September when we saw an attack on an Italian expat as well as the Japanese citizen later on in the year as well.

So the government has stepped up security in anyway because it's a diplomatic area with lots of embassies around. There is a little bit more securities unusual. But in terms of, you know, restaurants, shops, you wouldn't see, you know, roadblocks and police or anything like in a very -- in a big way. But I suspect that may change going forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:40:05] ALLEN: Leone Lakhani, yes, a new day in Bangladesh, sadly.

We'll have more on the attack coming up here, plus the latest from the U.S. presidential election including Donald Trump shortlist.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: And welcome back. I'm Natalie Allen live from CNN Center Atlanta.

The Bangladeshi Prime Minister says a siege at a cafe in the capital is over. Bangladeshi officials say at least 13 hostages have been rescued.

The siege began when gunman stormed a popular restaurant on Friday evening in the diplomatic quarter. The attackers held as many as 20 hostages for hours and killed two police officers in a gun battle early on.

There are completing report as to whether one gunman was captured. Bangladeshi officials say six gunmen were killed. ISIS claims responsibility for the attack but U.S. officials say it sounds more like an Al-Qaeda operation.

In the U.S. presidential race, seven high profile names have immerged as possible running mate for Donald Trump. The Presumptive Republican Nominee says "Lots of people are interested". Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta has the latest on Trump's short list for vice president.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump doesn't have a running mate just yet but he does have a short list. A senior advisor tells CNN New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, Senators Bob Corker, Jeff Sessions and John Thune plus Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin are all under consideration.

MIKE PENCE, INDIANA GOVERNOR: It's clear this is the time ...

ACOSTA: Speculation has suddenly swirling around Pence who's scheduled to meet with Trump in his described by one top campaign aid as a dark horse coming down the track.

A Trump spokesman noted "Mr. Trump is meeting with a number of republicans in a run-up to the GOP convention", adding, "He has a good relationship with Governor Pence."

It's a surprising development as Pence endorsed Ted Cruz before the Indiana Primary and seem to tempt down expectations this week.

PENCE: I haven't talk to him about that topic but my focus is here in the Hoosier state and that's where I'll stay.

ACOSTA: Despite Trump's previous statements that he would reveal as pick up the convention aids now caution the announcement could come sooner, the Trump of excitement.

At the western conservatives summit in Denver, Trump didn't say much about his vice presidential search, though we did give a shout out to Sessions and begin to fill out the convention program.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESUMPTIVE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I love my children, I love my children. My children are going to be speaking at the convention. My wife is going to be speaking at the convention. We're going to have a great time.

ACSOTA: Campaign officials hope that bib stakes (ph) will send a message that many Republicans are rallying behind the presumptive nominee despite the never Trump movement.

SARAH PALIN, 2008 REPUBLICAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: That game they call themselves the never #whatever. OK, well, I just call him Republicans Against Trump or RAT for short.

ACOSTA: As Trump's warm up speakers Sarah Palin repton (ph) to his critics.

PALIN: It's really funny to me to see this floaty head keep floating over this movement because it seems so obvious Trump wins a miracle will win because voters are so sick and tired of being betrayed.

[03:45:05] ACOSTA: And Trump trying to remind the party what they're up against, pointing that Bill Clinton's controversial meeting with Attorney General Loretta Lynch as Hillary Clinton is under an FBI Investigation over her private e-mail server.

TRUMP: I said, "No, no you're kidding. I don't believe it. I thought somebody was joking. But it's not a joke, it's not a joke. It's a very serious thing and to have a thing like that happen so sad.

That could be a Mexican flying up there they're getting ready to attack.

ACOSTA: But GOP insiders are still nervous that Trump sometimes racially tends rhetoric is taking the party in the wrong direction pointing to the real estate tycoon's response to a woman who took a job at Muslim TSA workers at a town hall in New Hampshire.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why aren't we putting our retiree, our military retirees on that boarder or in TSA, get rid of all these heebie- jeebies (ph) they wear at TSA. I've seen them myself. We need ....

TRUMP: Well, I understand, you know, and we are looking at that.

ACOSTA: CNN is also told vice versa said Senator Jeff Sessions and Newt Gingrich may only be on Trump short list as a courtesy, Senator Thune ones worst joked, may simply be too tall to be tacked as a running mate.

Jim Acosta, CNN Washington.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

ALLEN: Hillary Clinton's campaign war test brew by $68 million last month, likely widening her financial lead over Donald Trump. Donors will check so the presumptive Democratic nominee's campaign totally more than $40 million, that was on top of the 44 million she already had on hand.

Another 28 million was raised that went to the Democratic national committee and state Democratic parties. Trump's campaign has not yet released it's fund raising totals for June.

There's more fallout after that chance meeting between Hillary Clinton's husband, the former president, and the U.S. Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, claims it was no big deal. But now she is taking a big step back in the Clinton e-mail investigation CNN's Pamela Brown has that.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

LORETTA LYNCH, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I filly expect he's staff to do recommendations.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORESPONDENT: Attorney General Loretta Lynch said she will leave the decision of whether Hillary Clinton will be charged in the ongoing e-mail probe to the FBI in her career prosecutors.

LYNCH: I will be accepting their recommendations and their plan for going forward.

BROWN: But she stop short of completely removing herself from the case.

The rare public announcement is an attempt to lay any concerns of political intervention after her impromptu 30-minute meeting with Bill Clinton Monday night at tarmac of the Phoenix Airport. A law enforcement official says the former president spotted Lynch's plane on the tarmac and surprised her when he boarded her plane for a visit.

LYNCH: We basically said hello and I congratulated him on his grand children as people tend to do and that lead to a conversation about this grand children who do sound great.

BROWN: The unusual meeting causing a political fire storm of criticism from both Republicans and Democrats.

LYNCH: I may have viewed it in a certain life but the issue is how does it impact the work that I do and -- what the Department of Justice does. And I certainly wouldn't do it again. And, you know, because I think it has cast the shadow over what it should not, over what it will not touch.

BROWN: Donald Trump seizing on the opportunity to slam the Clintons tweeting, "The system is totally rigged."

TRUMP: You know, when I first heard the story I said, "No, no you're kidding. I don't believe it. I thought somebody was joking. But it's not a joke, it's not a joke, it's a very serious thing. And to have a thing like that happened so sad, and as you know Hillary is so guilty. She is so guilty.

BROWN: The impromptu meeting only galvanized Republican who's been calling for Lynch to recuse herself pointing in hard to the long standing relationship between the Attorney General and the Clinton.

President Clinton appointed Lynch to be U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of New York at 1999, but lynch made clear a recusal isn't going to happen.

LYNCH: Well, the recusal with me that I wouldn't even be brief on what the findings were or what's the proof the going is going forward would be.

And while I don't have a role in those findings and coming up with those findings or making those recommendations as to how to go forward I'll be brief on it.

BROWN: Other attorneys general have made the decision to recuse themselves from high profile cases. Alberto Gonzales did during the investigation into the firing of U.S. attorneys and John Ashcroft recuse himself when the Department of Justice was investigating the leak of a CIA officer's name.

Loretta Lynch said she had already made this decision before her meeting with Bill Clinton and typically an Attorney General will accept the findings or recommendations from career prosecutors.

What's unusual here is that, she announced to publicly and it's clear she wouldn't have done that had their nothing so much fallout over her meeting with Bill Clinton.

Pamela Brown, CNN Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:49:57] ALLEN: We're getting new information about the terror attack in Bangladesh and how it all ended we'll have a live report for you coming next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Bangladeshi commandos have ended a long hostage drama storming a restaurant in Dhaka that have been targeted by attackers some 14 hours earlier. Our Andrew Stevens is getting some new information for us now. He is again live for us from Hong Kong. Andrew.

STEVENS: Yeah, OK. All right, sorry about that. Just getting some very lightest information here, Natalie, and it is makes pretty grim reading too.

There has been a news conference in Dhaka the military is holding news conference. They say, they've just declared the 20 hostages, 20 civilians died in that hostage siege at the restaurant. That means the number of -- excuse me, hostages in the restaurant considerably higher than we had been lead to believe.

The media had been lead to believe, we've been quoting numbers of around about 20 hostages apparently inside that restaurant but the number if these count out correct, add up to round about 33. So we know that there were 13 hostages rescued alive and now we've just been told that 20 hostages or 20 civilian bodies have been found. And it makes for much even more grim reading.

The bodies were found inside the hotel -- inside the restaurant excuse me, and they had been killed with sharp objects, whether they have been hacked or stabbed to death but obviously a very, very grizzly scene inside that restaurant.

So 20 hostages civilian hostages killed, looks like they had -- though hacked to death inside the restaurant which is as about as bad as you can imagine. It would be 13 hostages though were rescued safely but when the army stormed the restaurant around about 8:00 local time this morning 12 hours after that siege, a little bit less than 12 hours after that siege began.

So that's were we are, I can tell you as far as the nationalities we know over the moment a Japanese citizen was among the hostages who were rescued. He was injured but his injuries we're told are not life threatening, this is coming from the Japanese Deputy Chief Administer of Cabinets and we've also heard from the Sri Lankan High Commission that two Sri Lankan nationals were also among those rescued.

They are unharmed, that's according to an official from the Sri Lankan high commission who actually met them. As for the rest that the very, the very grim toll of 20 civilian hostages who lost their lives in that siege, Natalie.

ALLEN: And the way that you describe, Andrew, resembles more of these past attacks that Bangladesh has seen of people being hacked to death and here we were thinking or ISIS had claimed responsibility but does it sound like ISIS?

STEVENS: Well, it does been a whole months of what we have seen the past in as much as how the victims were killed.

[03:54:58] In the past there has been several incidents of targets, individuals who are targeted by Islamic extremists and they were hacked to death on their way to work, in their homes and various places. These are people and these have been leaders of a religious minority groups in Bangladesh. They've been circular bloggers. They've been members of the gay community are being targeted.

People who so to seen as the enemy of the Islamic state if you like, have been targeted and they have been several off these types of individual attacks but nothing on this sort of style, 20 people according to that press conference from the military hacked to death in that restaurant.

The Bangladesh government is only recently track down or what they've said we're Islamic militants and they rounded up some 14,000 people but there was quite some skepticism about the talk of people that day had rounded up. A lot of them was said to be common criminals and not extremist at all, but the government has been making more of an effort to deal with obviously what is now a major, major problem within the boundaries of Bangladesh.

Now, we have this attack which is taken -- the type of attack to a whole new level, Natalie.

ALLEN: Absolutely. We were, you know, cheering the fact that there were hostages released and, of course, we still are but this certainly is as you say some horrifically grim news.

Thank you Andrew Stevens once again for us live there in Hong Kong.

So we'll continue to bring developments as we get them on the story we've been following now for many, many hours here at CNN.

Thanks so much for watching we'll have another hour for you live here from Atlanta in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers here in the United Stated and around the world. You are watching CNN "Newsroom", I'm George Howell and we continue to follow the breaking news out of Bangladesh.

The Bangladeshi Army says 20 civilians had been killed, hacked to death by attackers with sharp weapons in a hostage stand off in Dhaka.

A stand off in a cafe that lasted for more than 13 hours, military officials have just held a news conference. Gunman stormed the popular restaurants in Dhaka's diplomatic quarter Friday night but the Army says they killed six people there, six of them. They were able to free 13 people, again, killing six of the gunman.

There are conflicting reports over whether policed captured one of the attackers at the beginning of the siege the gunman killed two police --