Explosions Rock Hotels in Indonesia
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.</s>ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, breaking news: one, possibly two explosions at American-branded luxury hotels in Jakarta, Indonesia. CNN has confirmed is at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, the Associated Press reporting a blast a well at the nearby J.W. Marriott, which was actually the site of a deadly bombing back in 2003 -- the AP saying that two bombs went off, first at the Marriott. They're quoting police reporting at least four foreigners are dead. I want to show you just local TV reports. This is the first video we are starting to get in. You see the damage. This, the damage, I believe to the -- this is to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. One witness, according to the AP reported seeing bodies torn apart. That's at the Marriott. Then, again, according to the AP, a blast five minutes later there at the Ritz Hotel, tearing away the hotel's facade. Emergency crews wee reported to be all over the scene. You're watching local television. That's not our reporter. So, you -- we're not bringing you what she's saying, because she's not speaking in English. But you see the -- the Ritz-Carlton behind her. We're also trying to get someone out to the -- the Marriott Hotel. But you see the damage, extensive, the facade literally torn off. With us by phone from Jakarta is CNN producer Andy Saputra. Also, in Washington, CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen joins us. Andy, where are you now?</s>ANDY SAPUTRA, CNN PRODUCER: Hi, Anderson. I'm right in front of the Ritz-Carlton and</s>COOPER: Andy, do you have any reports of injuries and/or fatalities?</s>SAPUTRA: Not right now, Anderson, because officials are not -- are not saying anything, until they -- they assess the situation. But, from what we gather here from eyewitnesses' reports, we're seeing a couple of ambulances drove by, and presumably with victims inside, yes.</s>COOPER: Andy, how close are vehicles able to get when driving up to these hotels? As you know, the J.W. Marriott was bombed back in August of 2003, killed 12 people back then.</s>SAPUTRA: Yes.</s>COOPER: Did they then restrict vehicle access to the facades at the fronts of these hotels?</s>SAPUTRA: Yes, yes, the Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton both restricted access to their lobby. Both the -- but the -- but hotels are in -- are on the side of the road, although</s>COOPER: Many the blasts we have seen in the past in Indonesia have been suicide attacks, car bombs. So, you're saying a vehicle could drive up relatively close to the front of both these hotels?</s>SAPUTRA: Yes, yes, yes, not directly to the lobby, but about five meters from the -- from the lobby. So...</s>COOPER: At this point, do you see any sign of where the -- the blast actually took place and/or what sort of detonation it was? Was it a -- a car? Was it a person?</s>SAPUTRA: We have no idea about that right now. But all I can see in front of me is the -- is the blasted windows. It looks like it's -- the blast came from inside, because all the -- all the debris was pointing away from the windows. So...</s>COOPER: So, you think the blast came from inside at the Ritz?</s>SAPUTRA: Yes, yes, at the Ritz-Carlton.</s>COOPER: We're seeing on local television...</s>SAPUTRA: There's no visible damage on the J.W. Marriott right now.</s>COOPER: We're seeing on local television large numbers of what looks like hotel staff lined up in sort of a grassy area. Is that -- have they evacuated, I assume, the hotel, and that's everyone they have -- they have been able to get out?</s>SAPUTRA: Yes, I think in the Ritz-Carlton, they have evacuated all the personnel inside. But at J.W. Marriott, the evacuation processes are still going on. We can see hospital and an emergency response team coming in with stretchers.</s>COOPER: So, you see people entering with stretchers to the J.W. Marriott?</s>SAPUTRA: Yes.</s>COOPER: I want to bring in Peter Bergen, who's watching this along with us, who rushed into the office as soon as word of these blasts began to appear. And we will continue to look at the pictures.</s>COOPER: Peter, your initial impression of this?</s>PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, Anderson, I would say there are three things that are important about this. One is Western-owned hotels or Western brand-name hotels around the Muslim world where al Qaeda affiliates have a presence have been a consistent target for these groups going back. You mentioned the August 2003 attack on the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta. But there have been a lot of others, an attack on a Sheraton hotel in Karachi in 2002, an attack on three American brand-name hotels in Amman, Jordan, the Best Western, the Radisson, the Days Inn in 2005, an attack on a Hilton in Egypt very recently. Anderson, I'm sure you recall the attack on the Marriott Hotel, again a Marriott, in Islamabad in the last several months in Pakistan. So, hotels are in the hospitality business. By definition, they can't turn themselves into fortresses. They -- they are -- they're soft targets. And a Western-owned hotel or Western brand-name hotel is going to attract Western tourists, Western businessmen, businesspeople. And, of course, they're going to be very attractive targets to those groups. The second point is, the group that has almost certainly carried this out is Jemaah Islamiyah, which is al Qaeda's affiliate in Indonesia. It attacked in 2003 on the same target. It did the Bali attack of 2002 that killed more than 200 people, and mostly Westerners. It's done a second round of Bali attacks in 2005. And -- and the final point is that Jemaah -- what is interesting about these attacks, if it indeed is Jemaah Islamiyah, which is seems very probable -- multiple attacks against Western targets being their modus operandi -- this is somewhat surprising, because Jemaah Islamiyah has more or less taken itself out of circulation in Indonesia. The Indonesian government has had a very aggressive campaign against this al Qaeda affiliate. They have arrested a lot of the top leadership. The Indonesian public has had a great deal of revulsion against these -- the tactics of these groups. And, so, any legitimacy or popular support they may want -- might -- they might want to -- once enjoyed has -- has evaporated. And, so, what this indicates to me, Anderson, is that these groups have -- you know, this is really a show of strength: We're back in business, and we can do these multiple kinds of attacks on significant Western targets in the capital of a major Muslim country.</s>COOPER: The -- the name Jemaah Islamiyah, Peter Bergen, as you know, means "Islamic organization" in Arabic. They pan-Islamic, basically, state across the entire region. And we have seen them rear their head elsewhere in the region, in the Philippines. We have seen their personnel, I believe, operate in Cambodia, in Thailand, trying to have this sort of be all across Southeast Asia. Do we know at this point what their connection to al Qaeda is?</s>BERGEN: Well, in the past, it's been very strong. I mean, sometimes, these -- these kinds of links between al Qaeda affiliate groups are, you know, somewhat obscure. But, in the case of Jemaah Islamiyah, the guy who ran it was a guy called Hambali. And he was also on the al Qaeda leadership council, somebody who knew Osama bin Laden, somebody who trained in Afghanistan. He's now in U.S. custody. So, the links between al Qaeda and this Southeast Asian affiliate were quite strong, have been quite strong in the past. They may be less strong today. But, certainly, historically, many of the leaders of these groups fought in Afghanistan, alongside al Qaeda and -- and even pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden himself.</s>COOPER: I want to go back to Andy Saputra, our producer who is right outside the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, also in sight of the J.W. Marriott. Andy, the last time there was -- that I can remember, a suicide bombing was in October of 2005 in Bali, killed 20 people, injured 129 people. Of course, there was an even larger attack in Bali back in October of 2002, the nightclub bombings that everyone remembers. How surprised would you be to hear that Jemaah Islamiyah is back, if in fact that is the group which is responsible for what seems to be two simultaneous, or near-simultaneous, attacks on Western targets?</s>SAPUTRA: Yes. We are very surprised here, as you can imagine, because, I mean, in the wake of recent election, of reelection, of possible reelection of</s>COOPER: Andy, I assume you have been to these hotels, the Ritz- Carlton, the J.W. Marriott. I have spent time -- a lot of time -- in Jakarta, but I haven't been to either of these hotels lately. What is security like as you enter?</s>SAPUTRA: Well, J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton are -- are one of the two best, well-guarded hotel here in Indonesia, especially in the wake of the bombing in 2003 in J.W. Marriott. They</s>COOPER: I assume -- I mean, Peter, Peter Bergen, when you go to other hotels -- for instance, the hotels you and I have stayed at in -- in Islamabad and Pakistan -- vehicles are stopped well before they're able to get to the front of these hotels. All guests go through magnetometers. All bags are screened going in. I would assume that's the same situation here.</s>SAPUTRA: Yes, right.</s>BERGEN: You know, I have spent some time in Jakarta in the 2005 time frame, and stayed at the Four Seasons, which was not attacked in these set of attacks. And I think part of the reason is, the Four Seasons is pretty set back from the street, and is -- is -- is quite secure. From what Andy, our producer in Jakarta, is saying, both Ritz-Carlton and the Marriott are not -- don't have really a sufficient setback from the street, although one of the attacks appears to be coming from actually inside the hotel. So, that point may be moot. So, clearly, after 2003, there was a much more serious effort in Indonesia to protect these hotels. But I wanted to pick up on the point that you made, Anderson, about the 2005 attack in Bali. That attack really did Jemaah Islamiyah in. Indonesia -- tourism is a very important business in -- in Indonesia. The 2005 attack, Bali was just recovering from the attack three years earlier. This attack didn't kill a lot of Westerners. It killed mostly Indonesians. So, that's why, I think, as Andy said, that this attack is so surprising, because Jemaah Islamiyah had really seemed to have shot itself in both feet with the Bali attack of 2005, where almost all the victims were Indonesian.</s>COOPER: Yes. And I want to point out this video which we're now showing you is back from the Bali bombings. I believe these are the Bali bombings. This the 2002 video or 2005? Do we know? Two thousand and five. So, this is the -- the last suicide bombings in Bali, killed 20 people, injured 129 people. And that's what Peter Bergen was just referencing. This really kind of turned the tide against Jemaah Islamiyah. We're going to continue to follow this, obviously, throughout the hour. As you can tell, these are early reports. Our producer is just now on the scene. We're going to let you go, Andy, Andy Saputra, on the scene, CNN producer, to try to gather more information, try to find out about any casualties and/or fatalities. And we're going to follow this throughout this hour. But there's a lot of other stories to cover. We want to get to them. Peter Bergen is also going to stand by. Major new developments tonight in the murder of Byrd and Melanie Billings -- new evidence found, the sheriff hinting at unrevealed information about the case that is going to surprise people. We will try to get him to elaborate. And, later, President Obama's tough-love message to the African- American community, a powerful, at times thundering, speech he made today -- the message and how it was received just ahead, plus, extended clips. You can judge for yourself -- that and more when 360 continues.