"Utter SCUMBAGS" Bondi Beach Terror Hell By Cricket Legend Michael Vaughan

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0:53Piers Morgan:And Michael now joins me. Michael, good to see you. First of all, I'm glad you're OK. It sounded terrifying. Just talk me through what exactly happened from your perspective.

1:03Michael Vaughan:Yeah, we've been as a family watching our son play cricket. It was a beautiful day. They call it the Sunday session in Australia. So we were going to a restaurant. The restaurant booking was for half past seven. We got there at six o 'clock. So we're in the pub, just having a few drinks waiting for one of our friend's daughters actually and I was outside on the phone around for 6 6 45 to around 6 51 and then all of a sudden all the police cars were flying by and usually when you're around Bondi and there's a bit of police around I presume it was a shark attack or something happening down on the beach and I didn't expect what I then found out a few minutes later when there was a security guard outside the pub basically telling us there was someone with a gun and people were being held hostage that was what we were being told in the pub at that stage so we all got told to get inside the pub we then went into the restaurant more news can start to filter through that there'd been an attack down on the beach you know we didn't really understand what was going on at that stage then more and more news started to transcend that it was a terror attack that was the news that was hitting everyone around where we were and then it wasn't much long after that they shut the doors and they locked people obviously that were in the the restaurant and the pub inside and told us all to stay and we didn't really know what was going on then there was more news came that there was so much happening on social media that they said that there was more attacks going on around Sydney and around the city which thankfully wasn't proven to be the case but for a period we didn't have a clue really what was going on and we were just locked inside this restaurant.

2:56Piers Morgan:Which restaurant was it?

2:58Michael Vaughan:It was Totti's, it was Totti's. I was in the pub The Royal, you've been out here, it appears the Sunday session is when the sun shines, it's so busy everywhere in Australia on a day like it was and to see so many young people that was in the pub and everyone was on the phones and you know people were shouting out we did hear a few screams of people running up from the beach and we didn't really know what had gone on so for that particular when the security guards started to say get inside and one security guard gave the kind of the look of a gun and you know not in his hand but in his hand in terms of he was trying to tell everyone there's guns around And we didn't have a clue how many and how many people were involved.

3:43Michael Vaughan:So for a period and for quite an hour or two, we were all up in arms in terms of what was happening and how. Obviously, it's an awful, awful, tragic event that's happened on Bondi Beach. But for a period, we thought it was going to be even more because all the messages, particularly on social media, were so many people posting that there was more attacks and there's more people involved. we didn't quite understand what was happening.

4:11Piers Morgan:How far was the place that you were in, Totties, from where you eventually discovered that the shooting was happening?

4:19Michael Vaughan:I think 500 or 600 yards, you know, we're close. And there was so many police, as you've seen on the television. And then the helicopters were above and there was more than one. And we didn't have a great deal of knowledge of exactly what was going on. But when you're with a young family and a young daughter, you're a bit wary of being too dramatic because you don't want to scare her and make her think that it's a lot worse. But I knew personally that was obviously very, very awful what was going on. And we didn't have a kind of indication of what was going to happen next. When you see security guards kind of pushing people back into the pub and the door's getting locked, you do start to...

5:05Michael Vaughan:I've been at home when there's been terror attacks around the world and in the UK, and I watch it on the television. To be so close to one and to be in a position where a security guard's locking the doors of your restaurant, it's pretty scary.

5:20Piers Morgan:Very scary. When you found out the reality that there were two shooters who had opened fire on a Jewish celebration of Hanukkah going on on the beach. It's an annual event that's been going on for a few years. There were hundreds of Jewish people, families, just celebrating the festival of Hanukkah. What did you feel when you hear that?

5:43Michael Vaughan:Well, it's anger. Innocent people's lives just being ruined for what. Anyone that's been to Australia and Sydney and been on Bondi Beach, been on the Great Beach, been in Sydney itself it's such a place for everyone it's such a place where we celebrate everybody's lives and you know you come here because you feel safe you know this is why you come to Australia there's so many areas of the world I think that we're living now that potentially aren't safe but this is the one haven that you just feel completely safe and to think that a group of innocent people have been attacks celebrating their religion it's awful.

6:29Michael Vaughan:I know Australian people well and they'll rally around but to think that there's a community that's having to go through what they've gone through yesterday and beyond. It's not just those that have been affected yesterday, it's all the way around the world. It's an awful time that we're living in. I just feel for all those people that have been really affected by it, particularly the close family family, The civilian that grabbed hold of the terrorist, well, you can only say how many lives has he saved? What would have happened if he hadn't have done what he's done? So there are some great people out there.

7:09Michael Vaughan:And Australia will fight back. You know them, Piers. They'll fight back from this. But it's going to take a bit of time.

7:15Piers Morgan:I mean, I spend a lot of time, as you know, working and living in America where mass shootings, very sadly, have become part of life there and happen on a very regular basis. But it's very, very unusual in Australia. There was a terrible one in Tasmania back in the mid-'90s. And after that, they brought in a lot of new gun laws, and it's really been hardly anything like this ever since. And I think that's what's really hit the Australian people that I've spoken to today, is it's so unusual, this, isn't it? Choice Hotels gets you more of what you value. Here's a little tune to help you remember.

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8:17Michael Vaughan:Yeah, absolutely. I mean there was an attack at Bondi Junction a few years ago, an knife attack, but as you mentioned guns are very rarely heard of here in Australia. That's why I keep saying Australia is a safe haven, that's why people come here. They feel like they're really safe here and to think that we've just gone through what's gone and happened at Bondi, such an iconic venue. You know you say Australia within four or five sentences someone will say Bondi Beach. and that's the venue that we're talking about and to think that it's been this incredibly awful attack that's targeted a community for just celebrating a religion it's tragic.

8:59Piers Morgan:When you were eventually allowed out Michael from the pub I mean what was the sort of feeling from everybody who'd been inside perhaps slowly becoming aware of just how bad this was and how close you'd all been to it?

9:13Michael Vaughan:Well it probably hasn't hit me yet to be honest. We're only 24, well 12 hours away from it happening and you know the Uber drivers weren't working, the taxi drivers were trying to do their best but trying to get an Uber was near only impossible. Fortunately I had a friend who came and picked us up and picked all our family up and had to do a double trip because it was more than obviously people could fit in his car. So we were lucky that we could get out there. There wasn't, you know, the people were quite calm. I think, you know, the police have done such an amazing job and we felt safe. You know, we didn't feel at that stage that anything was going to happen and it was just a matter of making sure that people could get home and everyone was helping each other.

10:01Michael Vaughan:and we were very fortunate that we had a good old mate of ours who came and picked us up and got us back home.

10:09Piers Morgan:Could you have been on the beach at any stage in the evening? Would you normally do that?

10:14Michael Vaughan:I do the Coogee to Bondi walk all the time. Yeah, I know. In mornings, I've done it at night. There's many fish and chip shops that I sit outside on the beach in Bondi. and the grass bank where you know I've seen the footage from us I sit on there regularly with an ice cream I go on the beach go in the sea to see the footage of all the people on the beach running away or I didn't think I'd see that here in Australia so as I said this there's a there's a lot of talking and there's a lot of hard work to do to get this back on track but Australia itself and they'll rally round but all our thoughts have to be to all those families and friends that have been dearly affected by this.

11:02Piers Morgan:You referenced earlier this guy, Ahmed Al-Ahmed, who just risked his life to go and disarm one of the two terrorists. He then got shot by the other one twice. He's in hospital. We believe he's going to be OK. But obviously an absolutely stunning act of heroism. What did you make of it when you saw the footage of what he did?

11:26Michael Vaughan:Well, you just never know how people are going to react and you would be completely understanding if anyone runs away from that situation. That's probably the way that most people would react, just to get themselves safe, to make sure they're fine. But to think that he's gone and run and then jumps on the back of someone with a gun and then he's managed to wrestle it off him and then he didn't shoot it. He just held the gun and then he put it down and then he got shot himself i i i can't even for my life think of of what i would do in that situation but i pretty much guarantee piers um i don't think i've done that um right i don't think many people would no i well you just think of yourself and you probably hide under the car or you just run away and to think that he's in that moment reacted in that way uh with with a huge amount of bravery but calmness to deal with that and think right I'm gonna go and jump on his back and look he looks a big fella as well he managed to wrestle him down it but it was the fact that he didn't shoot him he kind of was calm himself which shows what an incredibly human being he must be delighted to say I hope he's absolutely fine because as I said before I've no idea how many lives

12:47Piers Morgan:he's saved but he's saved plenty yeah i mean he's a he's a father of two he's 43 years old he runs a fruit shop this is all the reporting we're getting including from his family and one report i read just before we started the interview is that the reason he put the gun down was he didn't want the police who were now on the scene or coming to think he was one of the shooters um so he was obviously very quick thinking he'd never had any experience according to his family with firearms whatsoever so it wasn't an astounding act of courage I mean it's gone massive around the world this on social medias you're probably aware but I would imagine that for Australians he's

13:31Michael Vaughan:going to be a national hero isn't he yeah without any question he's going to be lauded but you know we shouldn't be living in a world pace where this happens but I think that he's acted in that manner. He will be awarded every honour that he can possibly get but I'm sure he'll be the first to say that he wished he didn't have to do what he had to do. But the amount of people that he saved and the bravery and the calmness, we need more people like that in the world. Not the two that attacked the innocent people, we need more people like him.

14:09Piers Morgan:You obviously posted that you'd been there, you then went to bed, you're waking up now, all the front pages I've been seeing are obviously just completely wiping out on this on this dreadful attack, one of the darkest days in Australian history they're calling it I think in the Australian. The backdrop of course as to why you're there is you're there for the Ashes series, cricket obviously suddenly seems very insignificant but it is due to start imminently the third test match in Adelaide. We've been in a similar situation with terrorism around the England cricket scene before in India and places do you think there will be any delay to the test will they go ahead with it what's the thinking do you think no they'll go ahead on Wednesday it'll

14:54Michael Vaughan:be a somber affair without any question there's obviously going to be remembrance of what's happened but you know I think it's important in life that we don't back down to terrorism. I think you've got to carry on, you've got to show your support for everyone that's been affected. That will happen at the Adelaide Irvine. There'll be 60 or thousand, there'll be 30 or thousand Brits and you know you don't back down. You never back down to these cowards that are going about their business and thinking that they're going to change the world for the better for killing innocent people. So there'll be a I'd say an airy kind of atmosphere, I'm sure, at the Adelaide Oval to start with, but life has to go on.

15:43Michael Vaughan:The cricket will go on. The cricket hasn't been going great for England, so from an England perspective, we'd like them to play a bit better, but it bears into a consequence of what cricket means when you see what happened in Bondi. But absolutely, that first ball will be balled at 10am on Wednesday morning in Adelaide.

16:03Piers Morgan:What reaction have you had from Australians, Michael, since obviously you revealed that you'd been there? I know it's early days there now, but I imagine you've had a lot of message exchanges with probably quite high profile Australians. What has been the general reaction?

16:20Michael Vaughan:They're angry. I think they felt and feel that this wouldn't happen in their country. You know, there's so many of my team at Fox Sports that are living around Sydney, around Bondi, and they were on messaging services last night. They just can't believe what's happened. And they're in shock, I think, in terms of it happening so close on their doorstep. And I think that's the reaction to many. You know, I keep saying Australia is it's the beach, it's the sunshine, it's people being jovial. everyone's happy here because they've got the weather they've got pretty much everything that you require and it's a safe place and to think that this has happened that this iconic venue where we all just go and hang out and chill I don't see many people in Bondi Piers aren't smiling and there's a reason it's because it's such a special place and the smiles they'll come back they'll certainly come back but it might take a while for the real smiles to be coming back and that joy because what's happened at Bondi Beach is devastating.

17:33Piers Morgan:How are your family, are they all okay sort of mentally with what they've been through? Because obviously once you realise how close you were and how horrific it was, I'd imagine quite traumatic.

17:46Michael Vaughan:Yeah, I mean it's early days and you know I've got young daughters and they'll be fine they'll get through it but you know you're never quite sure how anyone is going to be able to cope with something like this particularly when you're so close but you know we'll talk through with them that you know it's just making sure they understand that two people in the world and particularly two people in Sydney can't affect you know the whole nation you know that's what's trying to happen here that's what they want us all to kind of react with. They want us to stop our lives, they want us to be scared.

18:21Michael Vaughan:We have to fight on. You have to accept that these awful attacks have been happening. Two people, as I said, are utter cowards, utter cowards to deliver what they've delivered on a Sunday evening in Sydney. It shouldn't happen, but it's happened. We all us fight on and make sure that you know we support all those people that have been horribly affected by this.

18:50Piers Morgan:And of course it's worth noting I think that the reporting at the moment suggests that you've got two Islamist attackers, gunmen committing mass murder of Jewish people because of their faith on the day of their festival but you also had the hero who disarmed one of them. It turns that it appears he is a Muslim himself and was as repulsed by what was happening as everybody else and that I think is an extraordinary part of this story.

19:20Michael Vaughan:Yeah absolutely you know it's always hard you know when you start talking about religion because I think you always in this kind of incident put everyone in the same basket we're talking about two utter scumbags Piers you know and not everyone's like that as as the hero who confronted one of the uh one of the the terrorists um has proven to be um the world is a great place pierce there's a the number of people around the world from all the religions that are absolutely incredible um and that'll carry on but we shouldn't react just to the small minority who are utter scumbags and that's exactly what these two are

20:07Piers Morgan:Michael Vaughan I really appreciate it it's very early over there in Sydney and you're still getting over this thank you very much indeed for joining me on Uncensored I appreciate it no problem