CNN's Barbara Starr has details of the U.S. Navy's rescue of an American hostage from armed pirates.

Ken Robinson
Terrorism and national security analyst

The United States government conducted the “mother of all” Secure Video Teleconferences (SVTC) on Thursday night regarding the piracy hostage crisis off the coast of Somalia.

What’s the difference between this week’s seized vessel and any other over the past year?

A big one!

The pirates over-reached, and took as “U.S. flagged vessel” (MV Alabama), triggering a challenge of doctrine as old as the republic, Freedom of Navigation.

The Pirates also didn’t count on the crew being populated by very angry, determined ex-Marines, who fought back, and quickly retook their ship.

Currently the problem is one of the laws of the sea, and the laws of nature.

Three of the pirates made off in a life vessel, intended for deep water, not the shallow and treacherous waters of the Somali coast. The boat is currently out of fuel, and drifting. A quick glance at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) web site will tell you that the boat won’t make it to shore, where according to my sources, no one wants the problems of an American hostage, anyway.

It is listing, heading north.

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Program Note: Tune in tonight for Randi Kaye's full report on AC360° at 10 p.m. ET.

Capt. Richard Phillips of the Maersk Alabama is being held by pirates on a lifeboat off Somalia.

Randi Kaye
AC360° Correspondent

Picture this: Four ships held hostage by pirates in a showdown with at least two US warships, with Captain Richard Phillips in a tiny lifeboat caught in the middle, literally. We are very likely heading for a showdown smack in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

The pirates want to hold onto Captain Phillips for ransom so here’s how they plan to pull it off. It’s pretty bold.

They are planning to bring as many as four ships, currently being held hostage, back out into the Indian Ocean. We know one is a German ship. The pirates are not taking any risks by heading out in their little skiffs this time. They are using the big ships and they will be bringing along with them at least 50 hostages they are currently holding.

These poor folks will essentially be used as human shields to try and keep the U.S. warships from firing on the pirates.

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Capt. Richard Phillips of the Maersk Alabama is being held by pirates on a lifeboat off Somalia.

Mike Mount
CNN Pentagon Producer

The U.S. military believes a number of pirates in hijacked vessels are looking to find and help the pirates holding Richard Phillips, captain of the hijacked Maersk Alabama, an official with knowledge of the situation tells CNN. The military believes their intention is to assist the pirates in the lifeboat.

The military is hearing this from audio intercepts.

Pirates fired shots when Phillips jumped in the water this morning, trying unsuccessfully to escape. And one pirate jumped into the water to get their hostage back.

Phillips was seen walking around inside the covered lifeboat after his escape attempt.

One of the pirated ships heading to the scene is the German cargo ship Hansa Stavanger, seized April 4th off the east coast of Somalia. The ship's crew of 24 includes five Germans, three Russians, two Ukrainians, two Filipinos and 12 from Tuvalu.

Attackers hijacked the Maersk Alabama, shown here, formerly known as the Alva Maersk.

David McKenzie
CNN Africa Correspondent

I have been covering Somali piracy for over a year, sailed with the USS Shoup patrolling the waters off Somalia searching for bands of marauders, and interviewed merchant sailors who had been held for months.

But nothing compares to this.

Pirates brazenly attacking a giant US flagged container ship off the coast of Somalia carrying food aid. In the ensuing fight the crew took back the ship, but the pirates made off with their captain in a lifeboat.

In his desperation to escape from his Somali Pirate captors, Captain Richard Phillips tried to escape from pirates on Thursday night by diving off the lifeboat where he was being held to swimming for the nearby US warship, said U.S. officials. The pirates hauled him back.

It was a brave attempt to get loose from his captors who are now trying to spirit him to the lawless Somali shore, according to a source well-connected to the Somali pirate scourge.

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French commandos last year training for operations against pirates.

CNN

A French hostage and two pirates died Friday in a rescue operation off Somalia's coastline, the French president's office in Paris said Friday.

Four hostages, including a child, were freed from the hijacked yacht after almost a week of captivity, Nicolas Sarkozy's office said.

The French military decided to move in when pirates refused their offers and increased threats against the hostages, it said.

The four adults and a child had been held aboard their yacht, the Tanit, since it was seized in the Gulf of Aden on Saturday, the president's statement said.

There has been a series of high-profile and increasingly sophisticated pirate attacks in recent months.

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Program Note: Tune in tonight to hear more on the situation on AC360° at 10 p.m. ET.

Attackers hijacked the Maersk Alabama, shown here, formerly known as the Alva Maersk.

Chris Lawrence
CNN Pentagon Correspondent

The USS Bainbridge is “within a few hundred yards” of the lifeboat holding Richard Phillips, the kidnapped American captain of the Daemsk Alabama, a US defense official confirms.

The pirates have larger “mother ships” nearby. The Navy is aware of their locations and doing surveillance.

The USS Halyburton, a frigate with choppers and guided missiles, is also “in the area” now, which I took to mean it’s not right there on the scene but is in the general area.

The amphibious USS Boxer, which has choppers and a hospital unit, is still “a day or two away.”

Anderson talks to a security expert about the negotiation process underway for the U.S. captain's release from the pirates.

Attackers hijacked the Maersk Alabama, shown here, formerly known as the Alva Maersk.

Program note: Watch Randi Kaye’s full report tonight at 10p EST on Anderson Cooper 360.

Randi Kaye
AC360° Correspondent

So imagine how those pirates feel right about now…

They’re rocking about in the middle of the Indian Ocean trying to figure out how to hold onto their bounty - Captain Richard Phillips - and their lives.

Their own boat is sunk. They're stuck in a 28-foot enclosed lifeboat with a disabled engine. They have limited food and no fuel. And looming nearby is the massive USS Bainbridge, a Navy destroyer that at any moment, could pounce. Two more Navy ships are on the way, a frigate with guided missiles and an amphibious ship. And FBI negotiators are there.

Sure, these four pirates - these four men holding Captain Phillips - are armed with AK-47’s, but do they have anywhere to go?

All the Captain has is a radio, which was running out of juice, so the Navy dropped in some more batteries and limited supplies.

Oh by the way, did I mention the unmanned flying drones that are hovering above the lifeboat and sending pictures back to the Navy destroyer so they can see every move that is made!

If you were those pirates, what would you do at this point?

Two more Navy ships are on the way and will arrive within the next 24 hours. The re have been unconfirmed reports that more pirates are headed to the scene to help take on the U.S. Navy but you have to wonder how that would go down.

The captain’s family, understandably, is anxious about his safety but we’re told he has not been harmed.

What do you think the U.S. needs to do to get out of this mess?

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs gives details about the government's help with ship hijacking by pirates.