they making progress? do they know the state of the hostages? reporter: well, from our vantage point here, we re a little more than a quarter mile away from the synagogue. you might be able to see through the parking lot here. we are in the parking lot of a phish catholic church, where saturday afternoon services have just started, where you can see some of the state trooper vehicles there in the distance. it is down that road where this hostage situation is unfolding, that immediate area around that synagogue has been closed off as all of this continues to unfold. but it has been described to us by members of this congregation as a terrifying and heart breaking afternoon. we spoke with one congressgant the live stream. they described it as a small congregation. 140-to-150 families.