Dribbling Information News Today

Sometimes these things are going to succeed and we as societies are going to have to figure out how to cope. we cant turn every situation into a society stopping crisis. >> we have new information from nbc news correspondent sara james live from sidney, australia. you have some information about contact with the gunman right now? >> reporter: yes. whats basically happening right now -- im about 200 yards away from the cafe. although the lights went out a short time ago, the conversation is conti...

They are sitting on that information. is it going to help to have that out? perhaps not. police decided theres no benefit to play that card. theyve asked nobody to play that card. as for five escapees they are now being debriefed in terms of the counseling and psychology but also passing on vital intelligence to the cops right now. all five of them will be able to tell the police exactly what state of mind the gunman is in and what elements he may have inside there and what threats he was making...

Growing against australia. >> this is more broadly this is the question. tony abbott, australian prime ministers stance on isis is quite clear. "weve made a strong commitment to degrading the isil group and we talk to partners about how this is best achieved." this played out in terms of military activity. 600 troops committed to the war on terror in september and eight hornets were authorized on air strikes in iraq only and my question now is how does this play out in terms of that growing foot...

Bombs in the store and two in the banking district according to local media reports. thats coming from international business times. the hostage taker referring to himself as "the brother." mika, its fascinating. obviously things work differently in australia than they do in the united states where they have the identity of the gunman and have information. chris reason reporting. doing remarkable work for channel 7 there in sidney. saying that when we find out details about the hostage taker, it...

Its symbolic significance. >> its a very delicate balance for those giving information to the media. heres more from the press conference just held a short while ago with the police commissioner and the premiere from new south whales. >> im proud of how weve responded as a city, a state and a nation. but my thoughts remain with those that are caught in this event and my call goes out to the state to pray for them, to pray for their families. >> ultimately we are doing all we can in these difficu...

Necessarily be in a position to give you that information because i will not be going into the tactics or the strategies that were employing. suffice to say that we have large numbers of police. they are in contact and we are working to resolve this just as quickly as we possibly can. having said that, i want to thank the community, particularly those people in the city today, you acted in a way that made our job easier than it could have been and for that i want to thank you. theres much work t...

We want to bring you up to date on the story in belgium in just a moment. to bring you up to date on whats happening in australia. up to 30 people being held in the lindt cafe in sidney. there are several different signs as to why this points to terrorism which were following as well. we have guests coming up on that. first, theres also a situation developing in belgium where police have confirmed a certain hostage situation or something else happening there that looked similar but thomas, you h...

Have responded as a city, a state and a nation. but my thoughts remain with those that are caught in this event and my call goes out to the state to pray for them, to pray for their families. ultimately we are doing all we can in these difficult circumstances and we will get through it. >> our only goal tonight and for as long as this takes is to get those people currently caught in that building out of there safely. that remains our number one priority and nothing will change. im sure that ther...

Information. >> the one thing i can say is if people are being contacted by hostages, particularly the media, we would ask that you put those people and ask them to ensure that the man inside speaks to police. speaks to our trained negotiators. they are the people that can resolve this and can help them in this situation and certainly they are available and would be looking to talk to the man thats got control of that particular building right now. >> tom, what do you make of what hes asking for...

And reports out of australian papers this morning reporting that the hostages are actually being allowed to keep their telephones. they are allowed to text the conditions. some texting that the situation is dire and they need to get out as soon as possible. but there is no doubt theres been a concerted effort to get information out from inside the chocolate store. the propaganda out of the situation in there and with the hostage reportedly -- or actually, the kidnapper reportedly telling one new...