>> michael: i'm michael shure. we put politics on hold tonight as two bomb explosions near the finish line of the boston marathon, leave dozens injured several dead, a city shocked, and a nation on high alert. tonight in "the war room," the latest from boston. [♪ theme music ♪] >> michael: today was supposed to be a day of celebration and joy in boston, but cheer turned to chaos at the finish line of the boston marathon when two

explosions killed at least two chemoand wounded more than two dozen. here is the scene captured by a boston globe photographer at the race's finish line. [ explosion ] [ screaming ] [ explosion ] [ screaming ] >> something's -- ed up over here. hey! there are going to be people hurt! there are going to be people hurtt! >> we need help! we need help!

>> come on. >> which just had an attack. >> michael: there you saw up close the horror that hand. here is what we know what right now. the explosions occurred at 2:50 pm eastern time, well after the racer's top runners had finished the marathon. police chief ed davis said there were no threats or warnings. here is one early reaction from a man who's father was injured in the explosion. >> there was police there, you know pretty quick. i don't know about medical personnel, but i'm sure trying to get through the whole crowd to get there, you know -- it's horrible and i would probably say stuff i couldn't say right now. >> michael: massachusetts governor asked the public to ur report any information they may

have. >> we are asking that people stay out of crowds and calmly make their way home or if they are visiting back to their hotels. all of the hotels' security will be prioritized at the outset. >> michael: now information is still coming in, and we don't want make any assumptions about the source of the explosions. as we get more details, we will bring them to you. now for more on what happened at the finish line want you to look at this. >> the two explosions went off in quick suck session. >> saw the garbage pail explode. >> the first blast and then second laters another explosion and more white smoke. >> i looked over andoff heard one bomb go off, i turned around

and heard another one shoot up in to the air. >> complete chaos ensued. debris and blood covered the area. >> i saw quite a few casualties coming back. i saw one guy who's legs were gone at the needs. it was not good. >> early pictures showed numb ruse victims being transported by wheel chairs and on stretchers to hospitals. the boston marathon is one of the biggest premier races in the country, with 10s of thousands participating. the explosion came hours after the winners had crossed the finish line. >> michael: in other cities across the country police are stepping up security as well. in washington secret service

agents shut down the street outside of the white house. it was shut down to car and foot traffic. they are saying it wasn't a response to anything that hand inside the white house. we expect a statement from the president within the next few minutes and we will bring that to you live. meanwhile in new york city mayor michael bloomberg said the thousand member unit of the terrorist group has been mobilized. west coast cities aren't taking any chances either. in los angeles the sheriff has opened an emergency depreciation center and increased patrols. even in london england police have increased security on the

metro system there. we do know two explosive devised went off in downtown massachusetts today. now we'll turn to chris voss. he is now the ceo of the "black swan" group. he joins us now by phone. thanks so much for joining us chris. >> my pleasure. >> michael: you have had a variety of jobs in counter terrorism and law enforcement investigation, where does a city begin when all of this happens? obviously taking care of the victims, but after that everyone in america and frankly the world is going to be wondering who did this, how it started and is there more to come? >> bombs tend to leave debehind a

lot of specific evidence. they'll be taking specific approach to collecting all of that, even to the point of using tweezers and toothbrushes to get all of thef the evidence. they'll look at videos of the area. but the best evidence will start with the devices themselves and then start to sort of check around and find out if anyone is claiming credit, and begin to look for indicators of chatter in various places to see if they can focus on what the source of the device were. >> chris when this process begins obviously there are so many departments working hopefully together on this. how long can we expect an investigation like this to take? when will the people who want results, and want to know what

happened, when will they begin to know? >> these sorts of things, generally a tremendous amount of hard work goes into them, and then there's a break through. it's hard to tell when that break through is going to come and there have been bombing investigations in the past where a break through has come in a couple of days, in other cases it has taken several years. if they can get a break through shortly, if it's possible they'll get one, but it could take a while. >> michael: sadly we all look at whether it's oklahoma city the first world trade center bombing, and of course 9/11, whenever something like this happens, chris, how much better are we how much more prepared are we to get to the bottom of something like this because of what we have learned over the last dozen years?

>> we get better all the time. our scientific abilities to analyze evidence increases constantly. i think as a country we are relying more upon one another to be alert and vigilant for these sorts of things and less complaisant. and i think overall as law enforcement caps a and s -- capacity and as a nation as a whole, we have gotten better as handling some of these things. >> michael: you heard the relative of one of the victims at the top saying he is just freaking upset and he doesn't even want to say what he wants to do. is there anything about what you saw today even in a cursory way that makes you think this is

domestic, international, or some individual that is angry and planting bombs? anything you can give a hunch on. >> we want to be really careful jumping to conclusions, but i will tell you that it -- it bothers me that it close to patriot's day and that it was boston. the selection of the targets are more symbolic. and typically overseas advocates when they pick targets they try to pick economic targets. these don't appear to fall into that cat gear, so it's hard to say -- >> michael: mr. voss i'm going to interrupt you, because the president is going to speak. stay with us. >> obama: i have directed the full resources of the federal

government to help state and local authorities protect our people increase security around the united states as necessary and investigate what hand. the american people will say a prayer for boston tonight and michelle and i send our deepest thoughts and prayers to the familiar list of the victims in the wake of this senseless loss. we don't yet have all of the answer, but multiple people have been wounded, some gravely. i have spoken to fbi director muller, and secretary of homeland security, and they are mobilizing the appropriate resources to ininvestigate and respond. i have updated leaders of congress in both parties, and on days like this will are no republicans and democrats, we are americanedite united and concerned with our fellow americans. i have made sure there is every

federal resource available to the injured americans. boston police, firefighters, and first responders, as well as the national guard responded heroically and continue to do so as we speak. it's a reminder that so many americans serve and sacrifice on on our behalf every day. and we solute all of those who responded so quickly and professionally. we still do not know who did this or why, and people shouldn't jump to conclusions before we have all of the facts. but no mistake, we will get to the bottom of this and we will find out who did this. we'll find out why they did this. any responsible individuals, any responsible groups will feel the full weight of justice. today is a holiday in

massachusetts, patriot's day. it's a day that celebrates the free and fiercely independent spirit that this great american city of boston has reflected from the earliest days of our nation, and a day that draws the world to boston's streets in a spirit of friendly competition. boston is a tough and resilient town. i'm confident the bostonians will pull together and move forward, and as they move the american people will with them every step of the way. as we get more information, our teams will provide you briefings. we're still in the investigation stage at this point, but i just want to reiterate, we will find out who did this, and hold them accountable. thank you very much. >> michael: president obama live

at the white house addressing the tragedy in boston saying that whoever did this will feel the full weight of is punishment. the president is on it and we will be back here covering it all on "the war room."

>> if you believe in state's rights but still support the drug war you must be high. >> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> do you think that there is any chance we'll see this president even say the words "carbon tax"? >> with an open mind... >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> ...and a distinctly satirical point of view. >> but you mentioned "great leadership" so i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter). >> watch the show. >> only on current tv. >> michael: as we look at the scene in boston earlier today, where the explosive devices went off 2:50 pm eastern time after and turning the boston marathon right there at toply square anyone who has visited the area knows it is surrounded by

churches and hotels named for the painter. the president said these people will be brought to absolute justice. they are going to find out who did it. and he was the commander in chief today. he commanded not just the armed forces but the podium there, putting into action everything that needs to be in action? response to a terrible tragedy in our country. joining me now is david sirota a regular on "the war room." david you heard the president just now. what do you make of what he had to say? >> yeah, he instruct the exact right tone. this has become a new normal for politicians, for congress people, and a new normal for the president of the united states and that's a real tragedy.

we don't exactly what happened in boston; whether this was terrorism, loan -- lone wolf terrorism, or maybe it's not tariff. but the news is now become defined as these kinds of mass destructions. and people react in a way they are frightened shocked, but not necessarily surprised, and i think as we move forward from this, one of the things that i hope is discussed is how has come to become the new normal in america. >> michael: yeah, and without being dismissive at all of what happened obviously, this happens in syria every day, at

least 50 people die from bombs or war fair every day. and we don't react the same. we're not expected to. what makes these events in this country so different? is it because it is so new here? >> it is new in the sense of mass violence mass chaos events. obviously there is gun violence on american streets every year but in terms of mass shootings, mass potential terrorist events mass bombings even infrastructure events, that hasn't been a normal in america until fairly recently. sure there have been events. the olympic bombing and the allegations against richard

jewel, and terrorism events after 9/11 but it hasn't become the new normal in this country as it has in other countries. one of the reactions i had watching the scene unfold is it's amazing and obviously fortunate that this hasn't happened more frequently, especially with our country at war, and warning about the possibility of blowback. it is in a sense amazing that it hasn't become more normal but now it is becoming i think, whether it's terrorism, mass shooting or anything else it is becoming the normal in this country. >> michael: that's a great point. knowing this is possibility now, the notion that it hasn't hand at a ballpark or big public event is actually astonishing.

so let's talk about the possible iteration iterations, we don't know what this was. one of my guests was saying it is patriot's day, a very american day for everyone. it's day in massachusetts the third monday of april every year where they celebrate the ride of paul riveere, there is a red sox game, everybody goes to the boston marathon after that it's a big day, but it's also tax day. maybe this was some cook who was upset he had to pay too many taxes. so to jump to conclusions is bad. what happens in the american psyche, though. how can we sure that if we're

not going to get rid of these cooks? >> i think it's a fair question. i think that we -- we -- here is the thing. i think america has come to understand that we face multiple dangers; that we face multiple crises that bring this kind of thing on as possibility, so in a sense our relative lack of surprise, and obviously there's a certain level of surprise here, but our relative back of surprise is in a sense an admission that we understand that we through various choices we have made as a country, through various consequences we now face as a result of those choices, we understand we have put ourselves in a new position where at any given moment we feel the need to -- to fear for our lives and i think ultimately if we don't want that to be the

new normal, then we have to start asking the questions of how we got to this point. what i'm talking about is the general idea that it seems like we're waking up week after week after week and there's some sort of event like this and it's essentially news events screaming out to us saying something has fundamentally changed. >> michael: yeah, that there is in fact something broken. talk to me a little bit, david about -- you covered gun violence a lot in colorado and a more global way. talk about the juxtaposition of something like this what happened in boston to what happened in newtown? ho do we act as a country, legislatively and otherwise? >> that's a very fair question. ultimately i think what will dictate the police call response to this will be in part what we

find out about the cause of this. if this is found to be an islamic terrorist act, the reaction will be much different from other events. i would argue that if -- >> michael: david, i lost david sirota. hopefully we can get him back but we will be back and i will talk to cenk uygur. he is the host of "the young turks," and we will continue to cover boston right here in "the war room."

>> michael: we're back in "the war room." the fbi is now classifying what happened today in boston at the boston marathon as a terrorist attack. 107 people according to

boston.com, 107 people have been scene in boston hospitals as a result of this. two are confirmed dead. and all of this happened at the 26th mile of the boston marathon, which was dedicated to the 26 victims of newtown. there's a team of newtown parents running in the race called team newtown strong who are raising money for charities. they were reportedly seated in the vip section right where the explosion went off. there has been no confirmation whether they are among the injured today. this is -- two republicans candidates are suspending their campaigns. a navy seal seeking the republican nomination ran in today's race. he dedicated each of the 26

miles to vaet ran. afterwards he tweeted thoughts and prayers to all of the runners today. we're going to go to boston now for the mood on the ground there. robert johnson is from the let's run blog. his website covers all things running. he was inside the marathon's media room when the bombs went often. what is the status of where you are right now? >> we're still under lockdown right now at the hotel, probably a block and a half up the street from where the explosion was. >> michael: so once this happened they said you are not going anywhere, is that right? >> pretty much. in the running word, this is one of three or four biggest days of

the year. it was pretty loud, it shook the building, the media director ran out of the building. he thought oh my god, something happened. three or four minutes later he came back in and told me the head of security for john hancock said everyone is on lockdown. and he came back and said we're on lockdown no one is in or out, there were two bombs at the finish line. and then shortly thereafter everybody started thinking wow, what happened here? >> michael: were you scared at the time and throughout the day, and right now? are you unnerved about where you are, so close? >> the weird thing to me was -- i guess life goes on. he said this and i was much more uptight about it than

everybody else. everyone else went back to their desks, because i think they thought it was a bomb threat. but then when they saw the pictures people started crying and stuff. i talked to a friend of mine who was outside and heard the same sheik -- thank, but when you see people running out on the street it's much more unnerving than in the media room. i guess the media room -- they are used to everything. but once we saw the people running that was pretty scary. >> michael: do you know when they'll be able to move you and what -- how the progress is from here? >> i think it's human nature. you're not sure should i leave? i'm kind of near the boston marathon, and i'm like should i just get out of here.

i thought well there is a lot of security here. one of the doors you could get in or out for a bit, and i would say in the last hour hour and a half, it is much more tight. it is much more lockdown. i think everybody here is pretty upbeat, i mean people are eating in the bar and trying to -- it's weird how life goes on. another journalist here said it reminded him very much of the subway bombings in london. >> michael: yeah. are you in a media room or in the hotel, able to go around in the hotel? >> no, no we have full access. the media room is in a ballroom in the middle of the hotel. so i am -- the main social hub right now is the restaurant/bar area, right on the corner

closest to everything so people aren't really scared that something else is going to happen. i think people are confident that -- it's just odd, i guess. you look outside and see the ambulances, and a huge s.w.a.t. team came in recently. it definitely seems like there's -- it took a while to clear the streets to get local news reporters 200 yards from the finish line, and now i think that's gone. so i guess we'll be sleeping on the floor here. >> michael: yeah, i can imagine. well, i'm glad you are okay robert, and i think this will be unlike any article, piece, or story you have ever filed. robert johnson is with the blog let'srun.com. now i bring in my colleague here at current tv, the host of "the

young turks," cenk uygur. cenk? i'm interested in talking to you about what is going on in boston. because i was talking to david sirota who i know you spoke with frequently, and we started talking about the idea of -- of reacting to this as a terrorist, you know, event, versus reacting reacting to how we reacted to newtown. >> yeah. of course when there is a tragedy like this, everybody starts screaming too soon. but hold on now, we -- i actually think this is a very interesting time to have a very interesting conversation because specifically, we don't know who did it. now once we know who did it then everybody is going to have opinions one way or another. if it's somebody who is a muslim terrorist, people are going to say, i knew it! we have to go invade countries,

et cetera! if it's a right-wing white guy, those same people will say let's go overblow this it's one crazy guy. it has noim mri -- no implications. let's just calm down. so should we overreact? under react? or how should we react to who did it? >> michael: yeah, that is a way of avoiding the incindyiary conversation. and it could just be some guy who was really upset that he had to pay his taxes on april 15th. so i think readying the response

is important. what do you think -- if that's the conversation what do you think is the appropriate way to have that conversation? >> that's a great question and as i thought that through -- i want everybody to think this through. what do you think should be the reaction no matter what right? and of course the answer is very logical once you break it down that way. the reaction will not be rational, because we're angry. when i read stories about people who got their legs cut off, you can't help but be angry, but we need to take the appropriate action. we hunt them down and bring the full force of the law onto them. but it doesn't mean that you smear all right-wingers if it's a right-winger and you shouldn't smear all muslims, if

it's a muslim. >> michael: it made me think of newtown, and we reacted as a country in a certain way, and before this happened we were in your show, and we're going to talk about it on our show, the petty politics playing out in washington. how does this change this cenk? when we see this kind of violence, which is just as offensive, but it's a different kind of target that we go after. we seem to go off it with much more vim and vigor. >> that's the thing and that's why it is so relevant to know who the culprit is. because if newtown had been done by an iranian agent, our tanks

would have been parked in iran right now. we would have not tolerated it. yet when we have domestic terrorism over and over and over again, and that's what these shoots are we say let's just calm down, keep saying to everybody, too soon until the connecticut effect wears off. if a guy had come in with an assault weapon shot two people and injured 23 which was the original assessment people would have been angry, but then they would have gone into minutia, and ultimately done nothing about it. but if it is a muslim terrorist, there is going to be a five-alarm fire. >> michael: and why is it that we're so prone -- is it the -- i don't know the zeno phobic

nature of us, but when it comes to gun violence you hear senator even now saying we need to be reasonable. i'm not going to go with it's just money. it's a little more than that. >> so much of our conversation is driven by the right-wing, if they are screaming about muslims, well, that drives the conversation, and it becomes the democrats, do you want to just let the terrorists go? if it's a gun shooting the right-wing says how dare you! you are politicizing the situation! everybody shut up! and that divers the action.

>> michael: right. cenk uygur, my friend always with something great to say about what is going on in the world, "the young turks" will be on right after this show. thanks so much for joining us on "the war room," cenk. when we come back, right here chris moody, the senior political writer at yahoo! joins us to talk about the political implications of what happened in boston today. that take you inside the headlines. real, gripping, current. documentaries... on current tv.

>> obama: we still do not know who did this or why, and people shouldn't jump to conclusions before we have all of the facts,

but make no mistake, we will get to the bottom of this, and we will find out who did this. we'll find out why they did this. any response -- any responsible individuals, any responsible groups will feel the full weight of justice. >> michael: president obama speaking just moments ago in response to the bombings at the boston marathon today. at least two people are confirmed dead among them an 8-year-old. i'm the father of an 8-year-old just saying that is so painful. there is another side story, and this is a political show that we have here. so i invite chris moody in. thank for being on the show today. it's hard to talk about anything but what happened in boston when something like this happens, but

there are implications and human interest parts of is this. tell us how the president and vice president learn from something like this. >> the first statement we received from the white house was from vice president joe biden, he was just preparing to brief reporters on the gun bill that the senate is going to be taking up here pretty soon. and an aid came in and turned it on on television, and he called it a bombing -- you could read into that what you will but at that time we weren't sure what it was exactly, then president obama made phone calls to all of the authorities? boston, all of the national authorities as well, and briefed members of congress as well white house let us know what was going on, and then he made his statements today. and i think what you are seeing in the reaction to president obama's statement was it was the

right thing to say. we don't have all of the information right now, and they are doing the investigation, and we just have to wait and see what comes of this. >> michael: you eluded to what was about to happen in washington with the gun bill. you were just in hollywood where they were talking about the fight fighting. when does this start again? when it is okay -- i remember rudolf giuliani so say when it was okay to laugh again after 9/11. when it is okay to talk about gun legislation? >> the lawmakers are still here in washington, and i'm pretty sure they are going to continue to work. the house has already done a

moment of violence on the floor, and i'm sure the senate will be doing something similar. so i think you'll continue to see the debate. it will go a little bit more slowly than it probably would have, and the tone will be different, but i don't think it is going to stall anything that might have planned to have happened over the next couple of weeks. >> michael: and do the members of congress prepare for who or what group may have been behind these sort of bombings? you have heard people talking all day about who it might have been, and that's natural but how does it work in congress? how do people prepare for that conversation? >> well, everyone has their bias -- biases and we have to wait

until information is confirmed. there will always be a lot of rumors especially in the age of twitter. i think with members of congress, it is very similar. they want justice just as president obama said and i think the start ones will take a wait and see what happens and withhold their statements of judgment there is more information out there. you will have a couple of outlayers, but i think the majority of people are probably going to say the appropriate things in the events that happen this. >> michael: that we have heard nothing from louis gohmert perhaps means things will go okay as well. we talked about this reactive

legislation. how do you think this changes the gun conversation if at all? i mean you follow it pretty damn closely, chris. >> it will change the tone over the next couple of days. you're not going to see the kind of red meat speeches you might have seen. people be a little bit more somber, and we might have a good debate without throwing out some of the wilder red meat. >> michael: yeah and i think that we could hope that that happens, but i think there are a lot of people that care about this gun issue that are afraid now that congress is going to get sidetracked, but the way you put it they are hunkered down now and prepared to do the work. what have you -- what are you hearing about this gun bill right now? do you have any feelings about

the direction it is going to take. >> there still are members of congress that want to filibuster the gun debate. last week you had the conservative wall street journal editorial board writing against them. saying put it on the floor for debate, and i think that will be going forward. you have the voices calling for the filibuster but it doesn't seem enough to block the whole thing. perhaps it won't pass as it is now, but it will proceed. members of congress are not just going to sit here and do nothing, and they are not going to go home either. >> michael: chris moody thank you so much. he joins us from washington. read his peace about the rnc retreat on yahoo.com.

we'll take a quick break, and come back and tell you a little bit more. i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.

>> michael: in what was a very very long day in boston there were two large explosions at the finish line of the boston marathon this afternoon. 115 people are estimated to be injured and that number includes at it children and there were also two people killed including an 8-year-old child. abc news is now reporting that the explosions were triggered remotely. john boehner announced that

flags will be lowered to half staff at the nation's capitol. the president called it a senseless act and vowed that those responsible will feel the full weight of justice, but he notably did not use the word terrorism. cbs news is reporting that there may have been someone detained after the explosion, a saudi national, but he is denying any involvement. that has not been confirmed by boston police. it has been a long day there. there will be many long days ahead. our thoughts and prayers, of course, with everyone in postboston. cenk uygur will be covering this in depth in the next hour, john fugelsang as well. please stay with current television. have a great and safe night.

i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.