now all 30 stocks down on the dow. worst performer, it would make sense on a day where commodities have such concern about them, caterpillar. if you look at the nasdaq, joy global, anything, mining down. tough day today. >> thanks very much for watching "street signs." we're going to continue the market selloff right into "closing bell" which is coming up next. hi, everybody. good afternoon. welcome to a special edition of the "closing bell." i'm maria bartiromo at the new york stock exchange where we have a developing story here. very ugly day on many levels with the stock market worsening as we speak. >> i'm bill griffeth here at cnbc world headquarters. it's not just the stock market. gold down sharply. commodities have been leading this market lower. the dow as we speak, maria, is setting lows for the session. now down 214, 215 points. and we're watching this selloff to see whether it intensifies as

we go to the close, if people want to get away from this market and not be long into the night or whether they start to see the buy on dip mentality that has been the hallmark of this market the last few months. that'll be critical to see this final hour. >> at this point it feels like it is worsening. at no doubt there will be a level investors view as a buying opportunity. we're at lows of the afternoon as we approach this final stretch about an hour before the closing bell sounds. we're looking at high quality, dividend payers, global names among the big leadership groups on the downside today. >> dow down 1.4%. nasdaq and s&p down like amounts at this hour. in fact, the nasdaq lately has been the leader to the downside. now down over 2% at this hour. and the s&p is down 1.8%. now, two key charts to follow in this final hour. the dow as we mentioned, you saw that down 216 points. but look at the price of gold now down $151 an ounce. never in history, maria, have

these two investments been down triple digits on the same day. >> yeah. i mean, that is why i'm questioning the severity of the stock market selloff. because obviously gold is not typically a leadership metric for the stock market. but it is indicative of, of course, an economy slowing around the world. and here we are at the beginning of a big week for earnings. of course, we all know investors have been looking for an excuse to sell after what has been a fantastic year to date. and really since last october. >> exactly. >> what does this all mean for the overall market? where do we go from here? let's get into today's "closing bell" exchange. danny hughes from divine capital. brian belski. andrew keen from keen on the markets. and our own rick santelli. good to have everybody. brian belski, you've been bullish on this market. when you see a market that's down better than 200, what strikes you? what do you want to do here? >> well, maria, as you know from our near term comments, we've been pretty cautious the last two or three weeks.

especially last week after the market eclipsed our year end target of 1575. clearly investors need to understand investing is not a linear relationship. stocks don't go straight up forever nor do they go straight down forever. this is a brief respite that the market clearly needed to do, especially given some of the softer macro situations that have been happening the last couple of weeks with respect to jobs and the like. and now over the weekend, the news on china. so this is a reality check for stocks. they got a little ahead of themselves. that's okay. that's very normal. >> let me go to mr. market early this time around. rick santelli, with gold and the dow down triple digits for the first time in the same day, are they both telling the same story do you think? >> i think they are. i also think you can throw the jgb in there and probably the aussie dollar for your commodity currency. if you look at a chart of 10-year note yields, sully did a good job on "street signs"

bringing it up, certainly doesn't show a huge amount of buying even though it's virtually unchanged. where did the money go? we see the aussie dollar responding. makes sense. that's a two-week chart. but every monday we have three and six month bill auctions. look at these two month charts of three and six month bill yields. while you're looking at that, remember we went off 5 1/2 basis points today at auction on the three month. it's been four months since we've had a lower yield at auction. on the sixth month that went off at nine basis points. it's been 14 months since we had a lower yield at auction. at least for the day, i think traders scratch their head and say, hey, i'm glad it's monday. i'm in bills. >> they're going to the safe havens. short term treasuries, cash. what is that message that gold and the stock market are telling us today by falling as much as they are, do you think? >> i think what it's telling us is that central banks, and when you look at all the liquidity out there compared to gdp, it's the highest level that it's been

since basically before world war ii or right after. and what happened all the way through the '50s? hyperinflation. i think there's a nervousness. you could call it depolice station -- deflation now. i call it deleveraging. i think it's the backside people are worrying about because these programs don't seem to be doing a lot of good in certain markets. although if you close off the gold avenue eventually i think the stock avenue is going to development. >> dani, what's your sense in terms of how serious this gets? when do we see the buy in the dip mentality? there's a big portion of people that believe buy on the dip mentality really takes hold given the fact the federal reserve has not changed its action. >> that's right. i think after all we've seen with a lot of talking heads, myself included saying when this market backs off, that's when i'm going to step in. we would have liked to see that happen at the end of today which we still have time to see. the market did kind of pop back up a little bit about 20 minutes ago or so. but we're seeing a lot of bouncing here. but we would like to see that happen at the close of today.

>> so 200 is the right level, then? in other words, how low will it go before people view it as a buy on the dip? >> i think 200 is a good number. i think that's definitely a good number. >> andrew, i mean, let's talk gold as well while we're watching these markets go lower here. how much lower? you've been long gold. how much lower does it go before the buy on the dip mentality goes into that metal as well? >> i've been long gold for a very long time. i bought some at 1,100 then more at 1,350. if you look at the gld monthly support doesn't come until 120. look at gold. it's not a commodity. it's more of a currency. it's a supply/demand curve. it doesn't have any industrial production in the world. it's not like copper. it's not like steel. what can people sell it for? it's the same thing as diamonds or bit coins. there's nobody that wants to buy right now. i think it can dip a lot lower. i think the stock market is headed higher. i don't think there's much

correlation between the two. >> so why the reaction then? what do you think this reaction is, then? why is the market selling off because gold is getting crushed? >> i think it's a global growth story. we saw weak gdp, chinese gdp drop to 7.7%. a lot of global base stories are getting crushed. fcx, caterpillar. anything linked to global growth stories going down. i'm long this market and i'm long a lot of u.s. based stocks. i'm long some retail. i'm long some cable. i was long calls in sprint. i don't mind being long those. i don't want to be any longs where the top is from the top left to bottom right. that's how gold looks in the short term. >> you think 1,200 could be a support level? >> i think so. >> rick santelli, where do you think it could go? >> somewhere between 1,100 and 1 1,200 is realistic. if you see a 2-year jgb -- >> what is the jgb? >> japanese government bonds. >> there you go. >> they have a yield curve just like we do. if you see the 10-year maturity

get above 1% it tells me there's a lot of leverage out there. i'm look agent the japanese government bonds as a barometer of how leverage can work in two directions. >> really good point. would you put money to work in this market here, dani? >> in the market, absolutely. gold, though, reminds me of oil. do you remember in 2008, 2009, we had that rise in oil. same thing, driven by excess liquidity and also don't forget, oil is -- excuse me. gold is also extremely liquid. it's well traded all over the world. that's another reason why there's been a flock of money to gold when people are looking at it as a store of value against fiat currency debasement. when you see that kind of thing you have to remember people are very concerned about the world and what's going to happen. as we've seen things kind of peter out in terms of the global catastrophe has also been abated, people are starting to think, well, maybe gold isn't

the play it should be. i think gold is being played out right now. >> brian belski, are you ready to add to positions in the stock market? are you going to let this thing settle out a little more to the downside? >> listen, bill, i mean, we're investors. we don't try to time the market. this is the pullback that we have been looking for over the last three to four weeks. we're, again, longer term investors. we still believe that you have stocks are the best position, fundamental asset in the world. think about gold like this, bill. gold was part of the prior cycle leadership. gold started to run the last month or so because everyone started to get excited about investing again. this is a reality check for gold. it's not going to be part of leadership going forward. the leadership of investing, the next ten years, are u.s. stocks. >> all right. >> those sectors you still like? you're not changing your position is what we're saying here? >> absolutely not. by the way, you know, the

leadership in sectors, the united states, are going to come from the domestic side of things. especially domestically oriented industrials, things like big cap energy stocks. benefit from the manufacturing renaissance. into technology. >> very good. thank you, folks. >> thanks, everybody. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> the fallout -- >> bill, there have been lots of rumors on the floor of the exchange. we want to get to bertha coombs. she has breaking news. this is part of what went on when the market just hit the lows a few minutes ago. >> we are getting reports the boston police have confirmed that there was an incident near the finish line of the boston marathon. 673 boilston street. police say police, fire and ems are responding. nbc has spoken with william ritter. he's the former director of operations for the romney campaign, now a current spokesman for senate candidate gabriel gomez. he told nbc he was near the finish line of the boston marathon at the time. he heard what sounded like two

explosions. he said that he saw smoke rising from the north side of the boston public library. that's right there in coply square where the race ends. they cordened off the finish line, he told nbc. he was standing there. police are not allowing people to move as you can see from the pictures. the operations there have all stopped down. at this point we've heard of no reports of injuries. but, again, it appears that there were two explosions, boston police are confirming there was a major incident somewhere near the finish line of the boston marathon today. >> certainly, bertha, as these pictures broadcast all around on all of the networks, this market is reacting to it. one trader just coming over saying, look, we live in a terrorist world. so at the end of the day, this market is that fragile. you see a situation, wherever it may be across the world, across the country -- >> this is a skittish market. this is a skittish market.

it's symptomatic, i think, maria, of the outlook people have had -- investors have had and traders have had for this market as it went higher. this has been an unloved rally. there's been a tremendous amount of skepticism. you get something like this that occurs, and it will become another excuse to sell in this market. >> right. >> in the midst of the boston marathon, the oldest marathon in the country. one that a lot of people pay attention to. there would be a big crowd there. it is patriots day in massachusetts. they always have it on the holiday in april. so it is a major event that sports fans and a lot of people in the bay area really, bay state, pay attention to. >> thanks a lot, bertha. we are in the final stretch of trading. at the lows of the afternoon right now. with just about 45 minutes before the closing bell sounds, we're looking aacross the board selling. some of the leadership groups like the financials, like the techs are on the downside today. down 223 points on the dow jones

industrial average. >> it's not just stocks. commodities are also getting hammered today. when we come back, we'll find out why and where money making opportunities may exist in this major pullback right now. we'll also take a look at who is already making money in this selloff despite the declines. later, just a friendly reminder, it's tax day. washington may be getting an unexpected windfall this year courtesy of the upper income. but they'll get revenge next year, i guess. we'll explain coming up. [ female announcer ] it's time for the annual shareholders meeting. ♪ there'll be the usual presentations on research. and development.

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welcome back. we're coming off the lows of the session. a moment ago the dow jones industrial average was down 223 points. as you can see down 181 points on what has been a broad selloff not only for stocks, but for the gold market and other commodities today. we've been following this breaking story out of boston. two explosions that have occurred in the last hour or so near the finish line of the boston marathon which occurred earlier today on this patriots day in massachusetts. bob pisani, who's in the middle of the action at the new york

stock exchange, there are some who believe there's a correlation when the news was breaking out of boston, that's when we were hitting the lows of the day on the stock market. >> just what we need on a difficult day already for the markets. take a look at the dow jones industrial average. we were down about 165 points prior to 3:00. as the news starting coming across there was injuries at the finish line, we quickly dropped about 50 points in the dow industrials. i can tell you the trading community i talk to do believe there's a relationship. that those 50 points in that final part there was due to uncertainty about exactly what happened. obviously, some concerns potentially about terrorism. we still need to look into that. take a look at the s&p futures. that's really where you want to look when there's a quick reaction in the markets. traders need to move quickly. they'll go right into the s&p futures. we lost about six points on that. literally within a few minutes. that's a good indication that people were reacting to some kind of news. finally i want to note the vix spiked up at the same time as well. so, bill, when you get s&p futures down six or so points within a minute or two, then you

get a spike up in vix futures at the exact same time, usually that would correlate to some kind of reaction to some news event. i think most of the traders believe that final leg down was largely due to that. >> bertha, they're obviously trying to sort things out there in boston. we're trying to get a time line on this. the marathon's over, basically, right? >> the marathon's over. bill, you always have people who are not the fastest runners will still be coming in. it's a 26 mile race as we all know. so oftentimes they will still be coming in until later on. folks who will run, they aren't elite runners but running for causes, running for charities. i have a friend who was running today, a former producer here, who was running and had raised several thousand dollars for blood cancers. a lot of folks likely still coming in as the afternoon comes on. a lot of folks still hanging on to cheer them on. it's just part of the tradition that happens during a marathon.

so certainly it's one of those things that we are going to be watching for to see just how many injuries, how many people may have been hurt in this. but the elite runners would have at this point already have gone through. >> of course, you can see just by looking at the chart of the dow jones industrial average when this news first hit, the market did go toward the lows of the afternoon. overall, the impetus for this selloff is obviously not necessarily only what's happening here. as bob just mentioned, it was already a very tough day. gold has been a normally safe haven. let's take a look once again at really what had been the headline of the day before all of this earlier. that's sharon epperson on the gold story. what can you tell us at this point as we approach the close here. >> traders that are left here at the exchange are also watching this video on boston. and what has happened there and the explosion near the marathon finish line, keep in mind that of course gold is normally the safe haven. when there's a big concern about what has caused an explosion, was it terrorist activity, of course, a lot of investors would

think the safe haven play would be to get into gold. that is when we saw just in the last half hour or so gold prices dip below 1350 an ounce to the lows of the session. we're seeing selling continuing in the gold market as well. in fact, we're down at the lows of the day more than $150. we're also looking at a $200 loss in just two days' time. it's been a tremendous selloff in the gold market. record volume in the futures. record volume in many of the gold etfs as well. a lot of concern about margin calls. and the losses that we're seeing when you look at what one contract is in the gold market and the loss in just 24 hours, it's about $15,000. that's almost three times what the margin requirement is currently for gold. so a lot of traders are looking at margin calls. they're also looking at the possibility that we'll see margins increase as another reason for traders to sell gold right now. >> we should also point out that there are actually some earnings stories really driving other

situations. i have to point out citigroup which is actually trading higher. has been for much of the day today. stock up 1 2/3%. take a short break. we are all over these markets that are off of the worst levels but still down 178 on the dow. of course, this breaking development in boston. a simple : how old is the oldest person you've known? we gave people a sticker and had them show us. we learned a lot of us have known someone who's lived well into their 90s. and that's a great thing. but even though we're living longer, one thing that hasn't changed: the official retirement age. ♪ the question is how do you make sure you have the money you need to enjoy all of these years. ♪ since aflac is helping with his expenses while he can't work, he can focus on his recovery.

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welcome back. as we have been telling you, major developments in boston where there have been two explosions at the boston marathon as the marathoners were approaching the finish line. that did impact the market a bit. we went down to down 220 points on the dow. down 170 right now. brian williams is in the middle of doing a report for nbc news. we want to listen in to brian williams out of boston. >> their commentary as this tape aired so they can narrate for you what we see. brett, if we can roll that again, let's take a second look. >> there's this explosion. i think we missed the initial blast. you can see i just noticed there are a bunch of runners who fell when that explosion happened. there's that second explosion. >> one of the questions i had when this -- when we first found out about this is where the explosion was. i wanted to know if it was -- >> that sounded like an elapsed time. since we're looking at immediate

aftermath, the first smoke to rise, that sounded like an elapsed time of about 20 seconds between first and second primary and secondary explosion. sadly, in so many situations in both iraq and afghanistan, those who have served overseas, this is very familiar. a bombing in a public place. people rush in to help. too many times it's followed by an intentional secondary explosion. rather evil way of further injuring the first responders. if these two blasts were, indeed, intentional, it appears they were separated by about 20 seconds. there you see central boston. beautiful american city on an otherwise beautiful and big day for that city. it has meant so much over the years to just the reputation of

the city of boston. it's a grand tradition. brings so many visitors, so many runners, so much positive press coverage. a chance to show off the city and, of course, not to mention what it has meant in the sport of distance running as they rank the very best in the world. because runners have come from all over the world to compete in the boston marathon. if you're just joining us, there to the -- actually, the upper -- the crepter of your picture now, you see the white kind of powder burn from post explosion. you see the medical detritus. sadly what we believe is human blood on the sidewalk right there before the finish line of the boston marathon. this picture was one of the first to circulate on twitter this afternoon. one of the first ways we knew

this had happened. and in the background you see a column of white smoke. in the foreground you see an orange flash. when we first saw this coupled with reports that there were two explosions, it appeared to us that the foreground orange flash was the second. the secondary explosion. the smoke already having risen in the background from the first one. and, again, you have runners going by. this was a photo taken by someone in the crowd. someone on the sidewalk. and immediately posted on social media. but it shows the initial orange flash. so think of the spectators in the foreground on the other side of the street. think of the runners running by. as we said, it is hard to believe. and there's a zoomed in view. you have the column of smoke in the background. it's hard to believe there weren't police officers every few feet along this route.

the 26th mile of the race today dedicated to the newtown victims. let's listen in, again, new england cable news. >> it looked like it was in a restaurant? >> no. it was on the sidewalk. there were no flames. it was a white cloud of smoke. it was a huge percussion. there were two runners in front of me that got hit by some slarp knell on their legs and went to the ground. it was definitely a con cussive type type shrapnel bomb. >> you think it might have been a bomb? >> i think it was a bomb. it didn't come from the street, the manhole. it was on the sidewalk where people were mingling out in front of the restaurants. >> that's a man speculating right now. we have nothing confirmed in terms of whether or not this was a manhole cover, whether or not this was, in fact, a bomb. he was just describing that it was on the sidewalk. this is one man's description of what happened. he said he did not hear -- he did not see, rather, any flames. instead he saw a white cloud of smoke. and he was pretty insistent that it was along the sidewalk.

>> all right. this is new england cable news. again, none of us on the air here are forensic experts. but we -- you can see the kind of cordite white powder aftereffects of an explosion flush to the left hand side along the sidewalk. and that's not traditionally where manhole covers are. they're centered in the street. so this -- this would appear to be two blasts at or near the base of the building. and i think this is, again, the immediate aftermath from whdh. see the media tent? medical tent there in the foreground. the scissor truck camera platform. let's go to our coverage. this is nbc station whdh in boston. let's listen in. >> it's still developing.

i counted at least five in the video we saw. greg counted about that many. >> people who are injured? >> i saw people lying on the ground. i didn't see if they were injured or not. >> everyone's shocked at this point. you lost your shoe. talk about immediately after? >> people were just trampling each other on the sidewalks. it was just mayhem. >> are you okay right now besides being a little shaken up? >> yeah. >> thank you so much. that's the lady talking about the emotion she's been through right now having to witness what happened down there. they call their family and friends and say they're okay. that's the sentiment here. everyone walking around pretty dazed here. you can't go anywhere at this point. people are pretty much in shock. >> okay. >> nice reporting there with a witness there. one of the things that stuck out as she was describing the scenery is she described it as a cannon. that's how powerful this blast

was. while brian was talking with her you saw this is the aftermath. this is right after it happened. obviously a shuffle to say the least to get out of there and get out of there quickly. also, of course, to tend to those who needed medical help. you see here -- >> work to get what, i guess, was -- >> get them off. you could presumably -- >> there are people going into this business. i think that might be marathon sports. you can see they also went right into there. we could see live from our helicopter up there that windows in several store fronts blown out by this blast. obviously it'll be up to the fire and rescue people to tell us once their investigation begins where the origin of this was. it sure appeared to be right next to the main grand stand. next to that cherry picker if you will where the photographer and commentators are for the marathon. too close, obviously. talk about -- talk about a real sense of fear right now. for everybody in our city.

>> this also i've been talking to some of the producers here at our station. looking at video that's coming in, these injuries are going to be -- we do know they are very grave and very severe. potential -- potentially there are limbs, people missing limbs. so these injuries have been just devastating. hopefully we just pray for those who were affected. we're going to check back in with susan tran joins us once again on the phone. >> various avenues to gets a close to boilston street and the finish line as i could. i was not able to do that. at every turn there were several guards, police officers, state troopers, turning everyone away. there is an eerie situation going on in prudential center. there are few stores that have television screens. large groups have gathered around these screens. looking at the video we have on our television station.

the video from sky 7 hd. they're trying to figure out exactly what to do. as you can imagine there are hundreds of thousands of visitors in the area that just don't know the area. don't know how to get around. how to navigate where they should go or how they should get back to either their friends' homes or their hotels. many groups are just standing around trying to figure out where to go next. police officers are shooing them and pushing them and demanding they stay away from anywhere close to boilston street. i'm standing here at the corner of belvidere and huntington. i'm watching as four ambulances try to maneuver through the area. i see three fire trucks in front of me. several ambulances that are in front of the marriott hotel. and just hundreds of people trying to walk and try to get to whatever destination that they can.

>> here we go. thank you, susan. once again, if you're just joining us, folks, there was an explosion. you just saw it right there. two explosions, actually. right at the finish line of the boston marathon. that is the sound of what we can only assume is the second explosion. clearly. as a result, dozens if not more people gravely hurt. this happening literally as you can see in the middle of your screen, runners running down boyleston crossing the line. this happened in the past 35, 40 minutes. we do know the medical tents were immediately full with people not from running the marathon, but people who were sitting on or near the grand stand right where this explosion happened. blowing out the windows of multiple businesses in that area. we do know that these injuries are grave. very severe. as a result, the mass avenue bridge has been closed. the marathon has been temporarily suspended. service on green line between kenmore and park street has been canceled or right now suspended,

rather. you're looking at video moments after the explosion. the throng of police officers and probably just passersby and people there watching the race and maybe even members of the media just trying to get those stands and that debris off of people who we can pretty much make out were -- are under there. again, two explosions at the boston marathon. the finish line. this happening within about the last 40 minutes. we've got several crews there on the scene. we are hearing from witnesses as well. and that these injuries were severe. that people were seen just running and scattering away as you can imagine, just running away from the scene. really not knowing what to think. we do know that the patients, some of the first patients are are arriving or have arrived at our local hospitals including mgh. that entire area there near the finish line has been cordoned off, understandably so as police and fire investigators try to get to the bottom of exactly what happened and, of course, to keep people clear from the scene. we don't know the cause.

we don't know why this happened. adam, you mentioned earlier a very good point to keep in mind. obviously our first thought when this happens, especially at an event like this, arguably the most known or most notable of marathons around the world, certainly one of them, that your first instinct is to say oh, my gosh, this was intentional. however, we do know as a result of the marathon because of all the television production and generators, possibly speakers that go into -- >> we're watching our boston station. that was just -- just then was one of the first times we've seen the actual video of the first explosion. you see a runner go downright in the foreground due to shrapnel. he appears to have a leg wound. and this would mean that the initial explosion was in the foreground toward us. the second one was away from us. but already blocked from our view by smoke. again, it looks like two

explosions. separated by about 15 to 20 seconds from my amateur count. we just want to hop in here for viewers just joining us. this is one of those days across our country where people are going to be tuning in rapidly as they get word of this. we've had a large explosion, two explosions, in fact, at the finish line of the world famous boston marathon. midtown there. the center of the city has been cordoned off. as you heard one of our local correspondents say, tens of thousands of people stream into the city for this event. you have runners clubs not only across this country, but around the world. this is an astounding personal challenge for so many runners. it also allows us to rank the finest distance runners in the world who kind of run in their own separate category at the

front of the field in both mens and womens finishers. this was apparently about an hour after the first men's finishers, the elite runners. and then you had the heart of the very, very best, runners from across the country, passing across the finish line. appears to have been based, the explosion was, at the base of one of the buildings. looks like no more than about 50 to 75 yards away from the finish line. this is from social media. in the background you see the white plume of smoke down the street. explosion one. then explosion two in the foreground. the yellow flame. and this was a social media photos will be coming in as we're on the air. this is immediate aftermath. and i'm afraid as this goes on, we're going to see and hear about some of the very same injuries we have dealt with in our war zones.

to limbs and to the runners who were running by as part of the boston marathon. to the onlookers who had their backs to this explosion. to law enforcement who were positioned every few feet. this is the finish line after all. a heavily secured location to begin with. and in this picture, note the military reservists in camo uniforms jumping in and over the barricades to help. these are military reservists based out of the boston armory. all the yellow jackets, the race route volunteers, boston pd, boston ems. let's listen again to nbc station whdh in boston. >> thanks to dawn nelson, my colleague who was on the bridge to photograph the finishers, he actually saw the explosions. we have the moment of those explosions. and as people were trying to respond to that first disaster, then all the sudden that

explosion, that second explosion came out of nowhere. i'll tell you just from my perspective, you knew immediately that something was wrong. i've heard gunshots. i've heard cars backfiring. i've heard massive car crashes. this definitely wasn't that. white smoke and then chaos. lots and lots of response. we don't have any numbers on those affected in the aftermath of this, which is still going on. people have not talked to us yet to give a response. but i can tell you sadly that my colleagues and i saw many, many people injured and those injuries are severe. there was a lot of blood left at the scene. >> i'm sorry to interrupt you. i'm sorry to interrupt you. i'm going to go back here real quick if we can. there we go. i want to go back if you can. i had mentioned earlier we're getting new video. it appears maybe some people who were hurt. i had mentioned because i wasn't clear myself, this -- the explosion did not happen at the -- they weren't stands that collapsed.

they were just effectively people standing around? >> correct. correct. from what i hear, reed, again, it was chaotic. at first someone told me he thought that it happened in a building. that is not correct. from what i've been hearing from eyewitnesses. again, this is unconfirmed officially. but eyewitnesses told me there appeared to be two packages or two bags on the sidewalk against the building. which i believe is 671 boyleston. this is in between dartmouth and exeter. it's not the building right on the corner. >> again, nobody here is a forensic expert. what they're saying now would match exactly the photos we've been looking at and narrating from the aerials, the aftermath, at or near the base of a building. you can see the powder marks stretching out on to the sidewalk from what is clearly the aftermath of an explosion. they're dealing with the exact addresses. we are hoping and praying this is -- this video has been edited

before use on the air and is not raw video because we fear there are going to be some very grievous injuries. let's look at the bright side if there are any. the medical tent is within view of the explosion. so in a perverse way, boston ems was able at least to respond immediately. they already had a lot of hands on the situation. they could do triage for those who were able to be assisted. here's a little bit of the dimensions. we're going to talk a lot about copley square as a basic g graphical marker in boston. nothing in the bay region is that far apart. we're talking if you know the city about approximately boyleston and dartmouth. the finish line of the race.

something else we should get to before too much delay, this is going to happen. and in our post 9/11 era, it happens as a matter of course. because this is exactly the time you have to stay alert and just be aware of your surroundings. we're going to start getting numerous reports. and we have already here in new york city of heightened police presence. places like train stations, airports, city streets, landmarks. this was a landmark event today. all we can report with any certainty is there was that explosion right there. multiple injuries. and then about 15 to 20 seconds later, there is a second explosion of apparently equal strength. equal concussive impact. right at the finish line of the boston marathon. approximately an hour after the

first tier finishers crossed the line. but during a time when a ton of runners were running by. evan coleman is our nbc news counterterrorism expert. evan, obviously we're not going to brand or label this anything except twin explosions. but what are -- we noticed the black suv types in boston have locked down the streets. it's a crime scene now. what are they doing? what are they looking for? >> i mean, they're looking to figure out if this was an explosion, is there an explosive residue. can we determine whether or not, you know, if this was a deliberate act, what or who carried this out based on what actual explosive they used. is it something that was homemade? is it something that is military grade? that will give you a lot of indication about who exactly it is that used this. but like -- i mean, i think it's important to emphasize, you said this exactly, it's premature right now. the circumstances are certainly very suspicious. i think it's going to be obvious that the fbi is going to take this carefully.

but until we know for sure this was an actual explosion and not some kind of accident, it probably is premature to start labeling the potential culprit. >> absolutely. and we heard some talk on our boston station of a package or a parcel. while it is not impossible that eyewitnesses now have had a jogged memory of seeing something suspicious at the base of that building, say nothing of two devices, it's just too soon. evan, as i said, if there's any good news here it's that you had so many boston pd and ems say nothing of military reserve already there. this was the finish line. this is a location you secure anyway. >> yeah. that is, you know, fortunate. i think one of the reasons why you have so much security there is the result of the fact that in this post 9/11 world, you know, people have taken into

account that there might be security threats. and so, i mean, it's fortunate. it's very disturbing to see this. i think, you know, if this was a deliberate act, unfortunately it certainly would reflect something that we're seeing. which is that there's an emphasis on these kind of soft target attacks now. we're moving away from the spectacular attacks and moving into the small grade, you know, home grown attacks. let's hope that's not what this is. it certainly looks suspicious. >> all right, evan. we're going to keep you on a short leash here. as you learn things, report back into us. these are aerial pictures that deserve some explanation for those just joining our coverage. on the right, the reviewing stand. finish line. boston marathon. on the left as you just saw, the powder burns and, sadly, human blood and bandages from the wounded in this explosion. this is boyleston in boston near

the corner of dartmouth. not far from the boston marriott. not far from so many different landmarks. copley square is a big one. the very normally heavily defended, heavily protected, and under heavy surveillance, the finish line of the boston marathon. you had something like 26,000 competitors. here is the moment of the concussion. you see the flame. or you see a runner in the center of your screen go down from shrapnel. remember, you have onlookers on the right. it blew the barrier out. all the people in the yellow jackets are race route volunteers. the bright green is boston pd and in some cases ems. this is slow mo video. that was the first explosion. the medical tent, the blue in

the foreground, the scissor truck with the television camera. by the time we see the tv platform, the television camera person has already, let's hope, just hunkered down. first debris falling. then what i counted, between 15 and 20 seconds later, a second concussion. we want to bring on next someone who is a native son and also something of one of the best living experts on law enforcement in this country. bill bratton. bostonian, veteran police chief in these united states including the city of new york. he is in london with us by phone. and commissioner, what to you make of what you've seen so far? >> well, i've just been on the phone with the boston police sources that they indicate the

initial report is of two explosions. really as many as 50 injured including very serious injuries. needless to say, having policed that event for almost 20 years back in the '70s and '80s then the '90s, have a lot of intimacy for. upon first hearing it my concern is for friends and relatives actually running in that marathon as well as knowing many of the boston police law enforcement personnel that would be at that finish line. i'm certainly personally concerned about people i know that i know are going to be at that finish line. but professionally, it's certainly this is the first instance of this type that's ever been conducted at that event. they're going to be focused on trying to figure out what happened, who was behind it and for what purpose. >> and commissioner, i know that for a living you think about and study public safety. here we are over ten years out

from the largest act of terrorism carried out on our shores. and societies, you know, we have the new york born slogan. if you see something, say something. we're reminded of that every day. 9/11 changed the way we move around. we're watched by cameras, those of us in big cities, all the time. we're checked before public events. yet here you have this. a stretch of boyleston that has police officers every couple of feet. one would think this is already among the safest places in the country today. and now this. >> that will be certainly the quick focus of where did the explosions occur? what were they within in the sense of a container? how might they have gotten in? because the typical procedure today, as you know, is bomb sniffing dogs, searching the packages coming in to almost every major event that we have in the united states today.

i'm over in london. and right now they're very focused on the margaret thatcher funeral on wednesday. i'm just talking to a couple of -- having dinner with some british officials here. we're just discussing when i got the phone call about this incident about security for that funeral. they're very concerned about the potential for terrorist activity here. that concern is certainly now going to be heightened by the events happening in boston right now. >> before i let you return to dinner, commissioner, even if we hadn't pointed out you're a former boston commissioner, your accent gives you away at great distance. this is patriots day. commemorating the battle of lexington and concord. >> lexington and concord. >> the red sox played today. jackie robinson day. and, of course, the boston marathon going back -- this finish point has been the case since 1986. they moved the finish line to

copley. >> that's right. it used to be about 150 yards farther up the -- on boyleston street. they moved it down to accommodate for a number of reasons including the media. they moved the finish line. but it is one of the country's most historic events. one that i policed beginning as a police officer in 1971 and had the joy of being police commissioner there in 1992 and '93 during that marathon. it's, you know, i'm a proud b t bostonian in terms of my roots and origins. patriots day, red sox. it is a fabulous day in boston that's now forever marred by this incredible tragedy. >> commissioner bill bratton, thank you for being of counsel to us. we'll have you as part of our coverage throughout the day. >> thank you, brian. you have been listening to an nbc special report with brian williams. we want to get more on these explosions at the boston marathon. bertha coombs has the very

latest right now. what can you tell us? >> here's what we know. two explosions near the finish line of the boston marathon. after the elite runners had all finished, about three hours later, just before 3:00, the first reports coming through. at this hour, we are told some four people have been taken to mass general hospital for treatment of their injuries. another person and two more are on the way over to tufts medical center. police have been looking for what has gone on in the area. they're still conducting a search in case there may be other devices in the area. here in new york city, police officials say they have stepped up their security measures, particularly at tourist areas, hotels. typical areas until more has been learned about the explosion in boston. and what may have been the cause or the motive behind that. this point, officials in boston, again, are continuing to search

the area to see if there may be other devices in the area. but it is not known right now. maria, this happened in an area that is basically closed off for the day for the marathon. it is a heavily, heavy tourist area, copley square. the boston public library is there. there are several hotels in the area. a lot of shopping in the area. this happened on a day that is always a holiday in boston. patriots day. it's celebrated. so a lot of people off and in the area. at this point we have not heard of any folks seriously injured. whdh, our affiliate in boston, says that boston marathon statement now specifically citing two bombs. we will get that statement fully in a moment. but now it is saying they believe two bombs were the cause of those explosions. >> bertha, we know the bombs

went off, apparent bombs went off just before 3:00. do we know of any fatalities at this point? what can you tell us in terms of casualties? >> we don't know of any fatalities. we don't know the extent of the injuries of those that have gone to area hospitals right now. it appears to be eight people at least. those two major hospitals reporting. they're right close to the downtown area in boston. other people may have gone to other facilities that are a little bit farther out. as far as what police are looking for, they're searching through the area. they have shut down several of the subway lines, the green lines, the "b" and "c" line. those go out to the suh bushes of brookline, boston college and boston university. part of the central hub near park place is also shut down as well. so for folks who are in the downtown area, they're going to have to find another means to get home today. >> all right, bertha, thank you so much. we want to get to eamon javers. we have a statement from the white house. eamon, what are you hearing

there? >> reporter: we're still waiting on the official u.s. government federal response here to this incident that took place in boston. but we are told by a white house official that the president has been notified about the attack, apparent attack in boston with those bombs going off. the administration is in contact with the state and local authorities and the president has directed his administration, we are told, to provide whatever assistance is necessary in the investigation and the response. but the word is getting out here in washington. about 3:46 p.m. this afternoon, senator pat toomey told fellow senators on the senate floor that there had been some kind of an incident in boston. so word is spreading here. we've reached out to the fbi, to the white house, to the department of justice, homeland security and other officials here in washington. we have not had official comments from any of those yet. but you can imagine, maria, that a massive federal role in this is going to be envisioned here as well. >> eamon, thank you very much. eamon javers, we know that this did have an impact to the markets. bill and i now joined by bob

pisani and art cashin. bob, i know you've been making calls to trading desks and also the exchange to find out security. art, give us your sense of what happened when this first broke and the impact to the market. >> okay. as you know, maria, the rumor was down here on the floor before it ever hit the news wires. probably came from tweeting and blogging. maybe some people were actually at the race. it had a minor effect. the market began to come in a little bit. when we found out it was two explosions, people began to worry about was that terrorism? more than one event, that's when the markets came in the most. subsequently, there was speculation or rumor that at least one of the explosions may have come from a garbage can. that didn't sound terribly sophisticated. that might be a revenge kind of thing preside thing. the market came back. >> we're now back at the lows, near the lows. >> we have about 600 million for sale. $600 million worth for sale on the bell. that's putting some pressure on. >> mary -- >> to me, art, i don't know if you can respond to this --

>> i'm going to step in for one second, bob. as we head toward the close with the dow down 200 points, i'm seeing a wire report there's now smoke coming from the jfk library very near that area out on the waterfront near the university of massachusetts campus. they're saying that fire apparently broke out at jfk library shortly after the marathon explosions. not known if it's connected. not knowing the scale of the fire. as we saw that skyline picture of boston, mary and i were struck that the smoke was farther away from the boyleston street area. >> it was definitely the jfk library you saw in the distance. >> just wanted to add that to it. it just speaks to the skittishness of the market, bob pisani, doesn't it? >> what struck me, art, maybe you can react, essentially this occurred towards the end of the boston marathon. it had been -- the leaders had crossed the line several hours before. if you wanted to make some statement, it seems odd you would do it several hours later -- >> actually -- >> people coming in towards the back. >> bob, i was looking at the times. they were coming in around 4:09.

you're pretty much at the heart of the number of people running that marathon. four hours and nine minutes. there are 27,000 people running the race. very few are in the elite groups that end under three hours. a lot of them are at that core level at about four hours. actually you are making a statement at that point because i'm sure a lot of people weren't able to finish this race because of this. >> as we go to the last minute, folks, we are heading to the lows of the session. we wondered what would come here, if there would be a selloff further or if there would be some buying on the dips. certainly circumstances in boston are affecting what's going on. the dow is down 243 points now. maria, now down 250. it appears that the selling is intensifying as we head to the close here. >> it certainly is. art just told us a minute ago there was $600 million for sale at the close. that's what we're seeing hitting this tape right here. >> if you add in the report that bill and mary just did, there may have been a third event, that will raise speculation on terrorism and add to the weakness going i