fort journalists of fox news, i'm shepard smith in new york with the latest scenes from boston. prime time is live and i will see you back here midnight eastern. 11:00 p.m. central time. ♪ ♪ [explosion] [screams] [explosion] [sirens] >> people down here. i don't know what the cause is. stand by. >> have the bomb squad call me immediately. we have had an attack. oh my god. my god. oh my god. >> bill: a terror attack in boston on patriots day at the boston marathon finish line. at least two dead, including an 8-year-old

boy, according it to the "boston globe." more than 100 injured. many severely, including at least 8 children. i'm bill o'reilly, this is a special edition of the factor. here are the facts. the cowardly attack happened just before 3:00 this afternoon. a bomb exploded on boylston street on the marathon route in the back bay section of boston. a few seconds later a second bomb exploded about 100 yards away from the first. there are reports that authorities disarmed two other impro-advised explosive devices or ied's the kind used in afghanistan or iraq. that report from the associated press. also there are reports that police are investigating a man who was hurt in the explosion. we don't know more than that at this juncture except that he is in the hospital. president obama has addressed the nation and promised justice. but he made one mistake. the president called the attack a tragedy. it was not. it was a vial act of

violence. designed to kill innocent people, including children. i was just in boston yesterday, and this makes me sick! so far no one has claimed responsibility for the attack. perhaps it's a coincidence but this week marks the anniversary of attacks in oklahoma city, columbine, colorado, and virginia tech. also the waco assault in 1993. joining us now from washington congressman peter king, a member of the house homeland security committee. so, congressman, what can you tell us tonight? >> well, as you said, bill, this is absolutely horrific. it's detestable and has only the marks of a terrorist attack. in fact, the way it was carried out and to me there is no doubt in my mind that this is a terrorist attack. i know there is a person of interest, i guess they are calling him now. but, to me, this reminds me very much of the attack on times square in 2010 by shahzad and also we have to remember "inspire" magazine

for al qaeda in arabian peninsula called for terrorist attacks on sports events iconic events. this is both, boston marathon and patriots day is almost the iconic all american event. mass killing of civilians. again, we don't know for certain but, to me, i think we have to be looking toward either al qaeda or off shoot of al qaeda or a self-starter here in the united states, a homegrown terrorist. >> bill: well, i mean, i think the fbi fairly soon will ascertain exactly what the profile is. in fact, there is a press conference coming up around 8:30 we will go to that immediately and the fbi and the boston authorities in a combined press conference. but, at this point, we don't want to speculate, but we do know what it was designed to kill and maim. maim, this is a very disturbing part. the reports are there was shrapnel and ball bearings and things like that. other eyewitness reports

have reports of limbs being "boston blown off in horrific way. this wasn't designed to do anything other than create chaos and pandemonium as 9/11 was. same mo. domestic and foreign terrorists use this kind of stuff. when something like this happens, you being on the homeland security committee, do you guys do anything in congress? i mean, do you get on the phone with the fbi and/or with your fellow members of the committee? how does that work? >> well, speaking for myself, i have been on the phone all afternoon with police and fire officials, with sources i have in the federal government. i'm on the intelligence committee also. we will be getting a briefing on this tomorrow. no, this has to be a full-court press. bill, i hope this is a wakeup call to members of congress. we have had people in the senate, in particular, talking about reducing aid, for instance for the new york city police department and its counter terrorism efforts. somehow the feeling is because we haven't been successfully attacked in 11

years that we have nothing to worry about. well, if anything good can come out of such a horrible event as today maybe a wakeup call. we have enemies out to destroy us. they never let up. many ways more treacherous than they were before. since september 11th. metastasized and mored. under the radar screen. we have to be aggressive and on top of this. once somebody arrives at an event with explosive device. it's very difficult to it stop them. you can have all the security but the real way to stop it is by intelligence beforehand and going out into communities and finding out what's going to happen not waiting for it to come to us. >> bill: informs hear something. remind people what happened in times square when the guy from connecticut drove down with a car and was going to park it and blow times square up. just remind people what the motus on per ren day was and how authorities stopped it. >> he actually put together his own device. he had been trained in pakistan. he came over here and drofd

down connecticut. crashed on saturday night in pay fortunately the bomb didn't go off. this guy knew what he was doing. he also knew if certain devices are purchased, especially in new york that the nypd monitors it. he they know the types of explosives and they know the types of fuses and they know the types of fireworks. and they know what goes into a homemade bomb. because of that he purchased everything just below the level that had to be reported. and, in doing that he ended up putting together a bomb that didn't work. ironically enough, i was meeting with a high ranking fbi official today in new york before this happened. he was saying that one of the most unfortunate lessons that people got from the 2010 attack is because the bomb didn't kill anyone, people somehow thought the al qaeda threat was gone. that bomb came within inches of mass destruction. today, in boston, unfortunately this was -- i have heard everything from two to five bombs up there, explosive devices they were

there and at least two of them went off and it's absolute devastation. i just think of an 8-year-old boy, an 8-year-old child being killed at an ultimate all-american event. i mean, the cradle of liberty, boston, the marathon, patriots day. what can be better than bringing an 8-year-old child to that and have a young man or young girl killed at an event like that. it shows how horrible and despicable these people are and we can never let our guard down. >> bill: i don't want to be quibbling with the commander and chief because the president did his job today and i trust that he will get to the bottom of it and use all the resources to do it. it's not a tragedy. these are well, thought-out military campaigns, directed against civilians. this is what the nazis did. all right? and people do have to be aware. now, we understand that the 8-year-old was a girl, little girl who was killed. >> wow. horrible. >> bill: 8 other children that the "boston globe" reporting that they were

injured. a lot of these injuries are horrific. you have been to the theater of war in afghanistan and in iraq as have i. you know the wounded warrior situation. when these things go off, they are so intense, it just makes me really angry. the whole thing makes me really angry that these people in a free society you know we can't stop -- we have been fortunate to stop for 12 years. but now they -- one of them got through and this is what happens. >> requires all-out intensive effort, bill. that's why we can't be cutting back on police and stopping police the way people try to do in new york from being aggressive. they have to be aggressive. >> bill: stop and frisk. they don't want this. they don't want that. you are absolutely right. now, maybe this will recede as it did in the first attack on 9/11. people said, you know what? safety first. protection first. and now this crazy madness -- final question,

when you talk to the fbi. you say you are going to get briefed tomorrow. who is going to do that briefing, congressman? who is going to tell you and will they tell you it's an active investigation, they don't like to put a lot of stuff out in the media they want to chase down a whole bunch of people. they catch one. they want to know who their friends are will you get a pretty good idea tomorrow of what happened? >> bill, i think we have to. if we don't get it up front, we have to push for it. i think we will. and in view of, this i mean, in view of the fact that it's right here in the homeland. >> bill: what time is your briefing tomorrow? >> i think it's late morning. >> bill: will you come on tomorrow night here on this program? >> sure. absolutely. >> bill: all right. i'm going to book the congressman now for tomorrow. he will tell us about the briefing. because, look, we really need to act quickly here and get as much information to the people as possible. congressman, we can't thank you enough for taking the time this evening in a very terrible situation. >> thank you, bill. >> bill: in boston we have fox news correspondent molly line joining us live now. she has been watching the story from the very

beginning. you're the boston correspondent. and you know the town pretty well. this -- tell the folks this boylston street is one of the three hubs in back bay. commonwealth avenue. you've got boylston street and beacon street and they are all parallel. this is a tourist destination. people are walking in on marathon day. --s is a separate tore celebrity tore place, the race ends there go ahead. >> what you are talking about is the timing of this. the race kicked off in the morning. the elite inracers had finished their run. they had stopped running two hours before. this the people crossing the lines at this point a little before 3:00. a lot of them were charity runners. running this race because they love to run marathons. love to run and raising money for leukemia, the

liver foundation whatever the good cause was that they were out there pounding the pavement across massachusetts to finish as you mentioned this iconic area of the city. this is the downtown on marathon monday. a huge event every year in boston. packed with people. patriots day. baseball game going on. and at this point in the day, the race was coming near to the end. there was still some people that had yet to cross the finish line. at that finish line where these two bombs were detonated were family members waiting for their fellow runners. the moms with the kids waiting for dad to finish the finish line or dad with the kids waiting for mom to cross the finish line. many children on the list of these injured people. over 100 people injured. the list coming out from the hospitals, we have a 14-year-old boy with a head injury. a 10-year-old girl with a traumatic leg injury. these victims were families. theams from all over the world. people come from all over the world to run the boston marathon. >> bill: let me stop you there if the report is a

10-year-old girl with a traumatic leg injury that means amputee that's what that trauma means. now, it is theorized, nobody knows for sure, that these ied's were set off by cell phones. after the explosions, we couldn't get to our correspondents and our people, molly, on the street because they shut down cell phone service. did you experience that? >> yeah. there were reports that essentially was done so there couldn't be another detective ton nation and, in fact, following -- in the hours following that as they moved the media and people everyone that could get out of the area away from the people. they had actually said, the authorities here we are looking for any other devices that might still be placed here so that they could safely detonate them or take them away for study to further that investigation. they wanted to clear the scene. shut things down, get the cell phones turned off so there wouldn't be another explosion. >> bill: authorities can regulate cell phone service in different areas.

now, the city of boston tonight, locked down? nobody on the street? the mayor told everybody to stay home, right? i assume that will happen tomorrow as well? >> they are asking bostonians to stay inside. they are asking people who traveled here to run the marathon to see the marathon to stay in their hotel rooms and not be out on the streets. the streets are fairly quiet there are some people walking around. nothing like you would expect from a patriots day, a marathon monday here in the city of boston would have been screaming with people everywhere. but, yeah, quiet night here in boston. things are getting more and more quiet as the night goes on. bill, a whole line of ambulances staged here down columbus avenue. so, as far as the authorities here are concerned, you know, they are still ready, they are still staging. so this is definitely an ongoing event. things are not over. the streets are still blocked off and they most likely will be for quite some period of time. the fbi, the police department, studying that area boylston street now a crime scene, bill? >> bill: how about

tomorrow? are they telling people not to come into town or what's the word on tomorrow? >> i haven't heard anything specific about tomorrow other than to stay away from these areas. >> bill: yeah that's going to be tough because that's right in the middle of all the action. boylston street. but they have to block it off crime scene. not going to have anybody in and out of there so the fbi can do its job. molly, thanks very much. we appreciate it i want to go to my old friend emily ruiny now. she is the host of greater boston i worked with her wcbtv in boston years ago. emily was near the scene or on the screen when the bombs went off today. tell us what happened, emily. >> bill, i had just stepped on the street. i had been trying to avoid the marathon as congressman peter king said here it was holiday. patriots day. a lot of people were off including me. i was going to catch the scene at the finish line. heard two large explosions. i thought the scaffolding

had started falling. i didn't run over. i could insphantly see people coming my way. now i have got to move. i have got to get over there. instantaneously you had fire and police and emergency personnel on the scene. so, they were already pushing people back. and, as you know on marathon day the security is set up so tight. they have got those barricades on either side of those streets. they are also on all of the side streets. once you start heading towards any one of the main -- you are stopped. so really i wanted to jump a fence but i really couldn't. people started coming towards me. >> bill: was there panic? >> yes. yes. people were devastated. shaking and crying. they were saying things. fbi said he saw arms and legs in the air just going up. so, people who had actually seen it were right on the scene were very traumatized. >> bill: when all of this happened, did you see the

authorities? did they get control of it it right away or what was the time period of chaos? >> five seconds. i mean, instantaneous. >> bill: there were a lot of cops around anyway. >> not just cops, bill. homeland security sets up. homeland security is there. they set up this enormous satellite truck right the street next to me right on commonwealth avenue and dartmouth. it's there every single year. all the trucks and satellite stuff. it's an impressive operation. >> bill: they were on the scene very quickly, fire, police, and homeland security. and the people that were in the vicinity, they were either hurt or they ran out of there? is that the scene that you saw? >> well, you know, they were instantaneously telling people to stop running. they were pulling people who were injured into that big tent, bill, at the end of the finish line where they often have a lot of triage about because after you run 26 miles most

people stop in the medical tent. they were pulling people in there. they had extra wheelchairs around. a lot of people who come across the finish line need a wheelchair. they were putting people in wheelchairs and wheeling them into the medical tent. >> bill: boston is known as an international city. there are a lot of people from around the world who live in boston. students, doctors. you know, it's a melting pot. unlike maybe a midwestern city where if you would stand out if you weren't from the united states. not in boston. it's just a whole lot of people there. so, i think it's going to be very difficult for the authorities here to sort things out quickly. i assume they will get to the bottom of it. and do you know anything about this guy who they are looking at? >> i don't know about that but i have got to say, bill. my guess is, this is not going to be that hard to sort out. whoever was behind this, they did it, you know, it was well thought out. not just with the timing but with the number of devices. they are going to be

looking at security cameras from hotels, from restaurants. individual people have security on their homes as you know. people live right on boylston street. so, they are going to be looking at all of that. my guess is they are going to find something. >> bill: it's a good point. there are a lot of cameras there especially on marathon day. everybody had one. we're glad you are safe. appreciate it? >> thanks, bill. >> bill: i will go to another colleague of mine howie carr big power house up there wrko. you were about to get on the radio when this happened, right? >> yeah. ininitially thought that it was just another one of these blackouts that the back bay has been suffering through in recent years. i assumed it was another utility problem. and i think a lot of people did. the first -- one of the first callers i got called me and said why are you saying this might be terrorism? you know it's just another gas main problem. >> bill: did people start calling you instantaneously about this? >> oh, yeah. they did.

as the afternoon wore on. i'm on 3 to 7 eastern time. as the afternoon wore on. i kept getting more calls from people who had been at the scene. it had taken them a while to get to their cars or get away. you know, when it happened, emily was right, from what my callers told me that, you know, some people ran towards the river towards the charles river. other people fled towards the south end, towards the ocean east. and then other people ran away towards the garden. it was -- i mean toward the common. it was just total chaos. i think a lot of people that i talked to tonight are very thankful, you know, the anger hasn't really kicked in yet. right now they are just saying oh my god, i talked to an exmarine. he and a couple of his buddies were there and they heard the explosion and they ran to it to try to

help. the first person he saw was a guy with no -- with missing a leg. and a 43-year-old person that was there, said i never seen anything like it. and, you know, how would he see anything like it unless he was in combat? >> bill: yeah. that's what this was designed to do. how long did it take for you doing the radio show about -- what, you are about a block and a half away from this, right? >> rko? we have moved. we used to be about a block and a half away. we have moved now. my daughter though goes to immanuel college which is in the 15 block radius that is now shut off to any traffic. and the police commissioner has announced that it's going to be shut down for at least 24 hours. so i don't know -- even know when she is going to be able to get back to school because she was at home today because it was patriots day. a state holiday. >> bill: now, how long did it take you to know that this thing was serious,

that it was probably a terrorist attack? when did you put that together? >> i would say probably around 3:15 or 3:20. it was pretty clear that, you know, when people started calling in and saying that they thought it had come from a trash can, then you began to see the first pictures showing up on the screen on youtube, on the newspaper web sites, and you saw the explosions were outward. you knew it wasn't a manhole cover that had exploded. it was pretty clear. and then when you began to hear the actual people who were near -- we got calls from people who were in the test, volunteers. it was so serious, bill, that they told the volunteers to leave, you know, because it suddenly went from just runners who were dehydrated and they wanted to wrap them up with something and give them

gatorade to suddenly they are doing triage like in the battlefield. >> bill: couple of eyewitness reports of severed limbs and things like that. the globe is reporting that about 130 are in hospitals right now. is that what you are hearing? >> yeah. something like that. most of the hospitals haven't had anybody step out but bringingman women's had a doctor come out. he said they had 26 people in there. two of them critically injured a lot of them had busted eardrums from the concussions from the force of the blast they also had a 3-year-old that was brought into brigham and women's. they immediately sent her to children's hospital. again, if there is a bright spot in a dark day is that there are so many great hospitals in boston. children's hospital is probably the greatest pediatric institution in the world. >> bill: right in that area. downtown intawfn compacted area anyway. everything is in there.

now, when you were taking calls in the beginning of the interview tonight with me, you said that the anger hadn't seeped in yet. now, you and i both know that boston is not a genteel town, despite the reputation. -- people are going to get angry. i'm angry now. you are targeting children, for what? because you are on some jihad or in the mountain and think you are a nazi guy? it's just sick across the board. you didn't take those kind of calls today. those angry calls? there were a few. you know the way the stwo sports, the two passions in boston are sports and politics. i was getting texters they were saying let's go back and blame the former speaker of the house and one of his minions who

killed the death penalty. as you recall, bill, the voters of massachusetts voted twice for the death penalty and the legislature both times overruled the votes of over a million massachusetts residents. and refused to return us to the status of a death penalty state. and, you know, people are still boiling about that and it's already starting to seep in. you know, what's going to happen? they catch this -- whoever did this, you can't put him to death. he is going to be -- he is going to be in a cell next to richard reid. you know, richard reid tried to -- tried to put a bomb in his shoe 12 years ago and we still have to take off our shoes at the airport. >> bill: right. i expect there is going to be a backlash on this story depending on who is fingered and who is taken into custody. whether it's al qaeda or domestic. it could be a domestic. i mentioned in the lead that you have all of these coincidental attacks, oklahoma city, columbine, virginia tech, and waco.

in the month of april. you know, who knows. i don't want to speculate tonight. >> again, somebody mentioned. >> bill: go ahead. >> somebody mentioned, bill, you know, that the middle east m.o. with these kind of bombs is you don't wait 10 seconds. the bombs went off 10 seconds apart. you usually wait in the middle east until the first responders show um and then the second car bomb goes off to totally maximize the carnage. on the other hand there was third bomb that was gablegd disabled by the police so maybe that was what they were planning on inflicting maximum damage. >> bill: whoever did this planned it out it could have been domestic or foreign terrorism. final question for you. people are looking for reasons here, but both you and i know, because we have both been reporting for decades, there aren't reasons for a lot of this stuff. it just happens. and, you know, we are going to talk to dr. keith ablow

or somebody is tonight if they knock him off because of the press conference. it's very hard for people to process. i bet you get a lot of calls tomorrow for people looking for some kind of rationale and there really isn't any kind of rationale. >> i know. we were just trying to gather people's memories of what had happened to them today. it didn't seem like it was a day more hard nosed politics because we don't really have -- >> bill: no. we have got to wait and see what direction the investigation goes. all right, howie, thanks very much. we appreciate you helping us out. >> thank you, bill. >> bill: i want to go to ed henry at the white house because i'm going to have to inject some politics in here, ed. it's absolutely appropriate to do so and it's in context. the president came up a little bit earlier and he did, as i said earlier, what he had to do. he reassured the nation that justice will be done. that's what everybody wants. however, there was pressure on president obama, and i don't even know whether he knows it, because of the

fiasco in libya, which we still don't know. nobody has been held accountable for it. that can't happen in boston. he has got to know that the you urgency here. he has got to get and this the federal government has got to get this and get this solved fairly quickly. >> absolutely. look at this on a number of levels. what happened in benghazi in september, you still do not really have anybody brought to justice yet, even though the president said immediately after they would be brought to justice. so he has that hanging out there. >> bill: yeah. >> that was the terror attack on his watch. this is now another terror attack on his watch. he came out today in the briefing room. i was there he called it in his opening line the events in boston. he did not call it terror. now critics, you are right, are going to say wait a second why won't he call it what it is. we talked to his aids who told me it is a terror attack. we believe it is a terror attack. why didn't he say that? they believe in the white house it makes no sense for the president to jump out ahead of the investigation when the you have got the fbi and everybody else on the state and local level

as well trying to find out all of this information. they say look, it was obvious there was a terror attack because when several explosive devices go off that by its nature is a terror attack but they do not know in fact whether it is a foreign attack or whether it came from al qaeda or some other group or whether it's home ground grown and some sort of domestic terrorism. none the less, he they acknowledged to me in private they know they are going to face criticism that he is not calling it terror when meanwhile dianne feinstein and others in his own party are out there on the record tonight saying it was terror. >> bill: you know what? that didn't bother me. i think the understated presentation, but firm, is what was appropriate there. that didn't bother me. i think he made a mistake by calling it a tragedy. i don't like that. you know, a tragedy is a storm that comes in and wipes out your family and the house or an accident that you have no control over. this isn't a tragedy. this is an act of war. that's what this is. whether it's domestic or foreign. now, mr. obama basically is

a guy who wants to be cool in all circumstances. do i have him correctly there? very conscious of being cool. doesn't show anger. very rarely seen him show anger. but, at a time like this, that is what is is necessary. can i show anger because i don't have anything directly to do with the investigation. but he has to keep a cool head. >> he does like to keep a cool head. one of the rare times i saw him in covering him where you were to say if he lost his cool a little bit during the oil spill investigation he was taking heat. did interview with matt lauer and said kicking people's butts and whatnot. he realized he was losing the public in terms of not showing that he cared, not showing he really wanted to get to the bottom of it in this case, frankly, they compare it to the bush administration days. they think that padilla in some of his public pronouncements got a little ahead of the situation and they don't want to repeat that you are right, he does approach it where he wants to be the coolest guy in

the room. >> bill: right. >> sometimes that works and other times. >> sometimes it's appropriate and sometimes it isn't. >> he has got to once again when it's defined show some anger and i would see. >> the lead investigating agency is the fbi. we are looking at the picture of a dayas where a press conference will be held locally divided between authorities in boston. the fbi lead agency on this, right? >> the fbi. lead law enforcement agency. they are the ones that will coordinate the whole thing. what's fascinating there as well is you have robert mueller who pardon me has been on the job for several years. his term has been extended once and now he is done in a few months. this is going to be his last major investigation. he has already got one foot out the door. you have a completely new national security team here at the white house for the second term. john killing a at state. john brennan. and this whole new group of

people around him, the president, who are being tested here very quickly. let's remember what we have been talking about and you have been talking about it on your show for weeks is about immigration reform and gun control and the budget and what is he going to do on the grand budget. all of a sudden that's on the back burner. >> bill: the terrorism thing becomes a major issue because this is the second time now we have been hit and 9/11, of course, being the first. the president basically is dependent now on multi-cultural and the fbi. and those guys are notoriously tight lipped, see. this is going to have people watch this tomorrow. starting tonight it doesn't matter i will lay the analysis the rest of the week in our reportage. the going to demand quick answers like i just said with peter king. hey, when you get briefed tomorrow we want to know tomorrow night what they are telling you about and congressman king was nice enough to commit to coming back on tomorrow night. the fbi doesn't want to say

anything because they, you know, if there is five or six people involved with this, they want to trace everybody back. but the public is demanding quick answers. so the president, again, referencing libya, between a rock and a hard place here. >> he is. because, in terms of the libya investigation, months and months have passed. >> bill: nothing. >> without the u.s. being able to crack that case. as you know, at the beginning of that, after benghazi, the fbi hadn't even been to the consulate. hadn't been there for days, maybe weeks. they were very slow there. so there is going to be i object tense pressure as you say to make sure when it's on the u.s. homeland in boston, major american city they will have to work a lot faster. what i will say about the information coming out. too quick on-to-their detriment. as you noted in the first 24 hours or so the information may not really be pertinent in the investigation. a lot of the early reports turn out to be false about which guy we are looking for. >> bill: sure. >> where he or she was. you are right, after the

first day or two, if they are not getting answers there will be i intense pressure. >> bill: when you are covering a story like, this tomorrow i assume carney will come out and you will be able to ask him questions, right? >> absolutely. >> bill: okay. do you pull back a little because of the sensitivity of the situation? >> no. i think we should be all over it. i remember when we were in a briefing after usama bin laden cause. better circumstance obviously for the united states but there were a lot of unanswered questions about what happened, how did we do it? you have got to push just as hard. whether the outcome is good or in this case where there is a terror attack on american soil, the president is going to be held accountable for that. we have got to get to the bottom of it. this has happened now on his watch. they have to explain not just what's happening in the investigation but did they have any inkling of this at all? if not, why not? a lot of unanswered questions tonight, jay carney, not just him, the fbi and the homeland security department, janet

napolitano are going to face a lot of questions about what they knew and what they didn't know. and we should say in fairness to them, obviously, this was said in the bush administration when i was here and should be said now, which is that for the department of homeland security still a relatively new federal agency post 9/11 as you noted, they have to be right 100% of the time. the terrorists only have to be right once. and all of a sudden we have horrific scene. so, there are a lot of terror attacks that thwarted in the bush administration that have been thwarted in this administration. but now this one was not. why not is going to be a big question. >> bill: yeah. particularly when the funerals of the children, one confirmed dead 8-year-old girl, but there are, we understand, 8 other children that have been injured or in the hospital. all right. we appreciate it, ed. we'll talk with you again tomorrow. >> thanks, bill. >> bill: we have fox news anchor bill hemmer up in boston now. you just got up there, hemmer? >> sure did. just about two hours ago,

bill. >> bill: so you fresh on the scene. give me your impression, some sights and sounds. >> yeah. you can get within a block of where the explosion occurred here, which was, what, about five and a half -- five hours, 40 minutes from now what i find fascinating just walking over in that area, bill, is the shear number of people still affected by this tonight because you had 27,000 runners in this marathon. there are between 2 and 6,000 of these yellow personal possession bags that are lined up on the street here down around the corner. that could be a sweater for a change of clothes for one of the runners. all of the runners put these possessions in the bag before the race occurs. they bring that to the finish line so that 26.2 miles later at the end of the boston marathon which, by the way doesn't run in a circle it goes in a line 26-plus miles. inside those yellow bags, bill, you can have car keys and house keys and cell

phone and wallet. all that material is being watched byes national guard tonight here in copley square in boston, massachusetts. the my larr coat you get after running one of these races to keep the body temperature down and controlling that. there are literally thousands and thousands of these that were never used. the reason why they weren't used is because the runners never made it to the finish line when that explosion went off. >> you can say most of the runners had crossed the fin lin issue in line and going after the race. the ones that hadn't crossed. >> you are at four and a half hours. you know, 4 hours, 30 minutes which isn't a super fast time for a marathon but not super slow, peter. >> bill: a thousand were still out on the course and then the authorities shut it down. did you fly up, there hemmer or did you drive up there? >> i blew. >> the planes are landing

at logan. >> yeah. >> bill: business are as usual. >> i think in boston business as usual. in the area here there is a lot of police as you would expect. again as i mentioned at the top of this report you can get within a block but no closer. >> bill: okay. so when you landed at logan airport was there delays or chaos at the airport? heightened security? >> the 5:00 out of new york was cancelled. there was a ground stop put here at the airport of logan international. i think that lasted about three hours. maybe two hours and 30 minutes before that ground stop was listed. i just noticed the one cancellation out new york. the 6:00 took off as unusual. as you know from being from this part of the country and gone to school here in cambridge it's a quick flight. we were on the ground, very little traffic. had an excellent cab driver. 1/2gateed the street. litter materially drove me

right to the location here without any police stopping us. i will tell you, bill, if you did not know that an explosion occurred at midday today and two people were killed and upwards of 100 others were injured. you would think this was a regular marathon because there is trash in the street as can you expect from ten evers of thousands of people being around here. big boxes of ba than naps to take part in those. boxes of water everywhere. you would think it was a regular race except for that one area as i described. that block in the center of copley square that's forbidden. >> bill: i think the red sox even completed their game, right? >> that's news to me. did i not hear that. that could be true. >> bill: they were playing. yes, the red sox did complete the game. fenway park is right down the street from you, hemmer. it's about. >> you are right. >> bill: about a half mile away. you can walk it. but they were playing -- the red sox were playing when the bombs went off. >> yes. >> bill: but they wouldn't know because they were, you

know, a half mile away or so. you wouldn't know, i guess they would hear the sirens and everything, and then there were enough reporters but they finished the game. >> yeah. i spoke with a man earlier tonight from st. louis, missouri, he was a quarter mile from the finish line an the crowd on the side of the street. you know, boston loves this street. it's a holiday here in boston. ops patriot's day. some people on the side of the street toward the end of the finish line the crowd was so loud a quarter of the mile from the explosion he never heard it what he described to me is that the race just stopped in front of him. and they were told that literally stop and turn around and go back you won't complete the race. that was his experience at the end. >> >> >> bill: we have got to compliment the boston authorities here. according to emily rooney who was right there, they really got in there fast and security the area and got the people under

control. there wasn't any stam peefding or anything like that. we have to thank the local authorities for getting in there and fire authorities as well. final question for you. >> to add to that point, i talked to a gentleman david calhoun who came in from atlanta, georgia. he was at the top of heart break hill, which is right around the 20-mile mark. that's the foint where if you are going to finish the race you clear that hill and you are home free. that's where he was. he had to stop and tape his angle. he was in his 50s. but that's where he was during the race. he felt so badly not just for the runner or the boston. the news that quickly spread through the this city. for all these runners who were stalemate along the route and told to stop because this race was over. >> bill: i will let you go, hemmer. thanks for helping us out. we have a couple of other people who were on the scene george so he so he scovi.

a reporter running in the marathon and sought explosions. chris, let's start with you. just describe for the folks watching around the world what you saw and what happened to you. >> sure. i had just passed the 26-mile marker. .2 miles left. i hearded of what sounded like cannon fire and saw gray and white smoke around the finish line. i thought it was a prank. a couple seconds behind me i knew there was a second explosion. this appeared to be something that was organized. there were casualties. trash barrel blown apart. and it was a pretty serious scene and at that point we didn't noe if there was going to be another one or not. a the love runners and spectators were very nervous at this point. >> bill: did you stop your running as soon as you heard the explosion? did you stop in your tracks? >> when i heard the first one, again, i thought it was a prank.

i kept going. i didn't realize what it was. when i heard the second one, that one really rattled me and everyone just stopped right where they were. i saw runners high jump, you know, railings to get over to the new -- where the crowd was which was amazing. just running 26 miles to be able to do that. people just kind of scattered as they were. as you said before everything just came to a halt. >> i want to identify you correct live i said boston herald. is it "boston globe" or the geraldo. >> no, no. i work for the boston herald. >> bill: we had "boston globe" up on the screen there. i worked for the herald, too. i know you guys well and for decades. as a newspaper reporter, when you realize that this was a huge story, did you kick in? did you start reporting? did you call paper what did

you do. >> i called the paper to make sure they weren't aware of what was going on. -- they were aware of what was going on. they obviously did. as you can imagine boston police were trying to get people to safety. i was trying to get a incidence of what was happening in front of me. obviously a lot of severely injured people everywhere. i saw a pair of women's boots that were just lying on the middle of the ground. and then there were just a lot of casualties. >> bill: did you see the people who were hurt? >> i did. i mean, i was pretty close to the second explosion. and it was bad. i mean, i saw some graphic stuff. i mean, you know, i think that area of the finish line is so incredibly crowded that anything like that, either going to be a lot of people standing around. no matter what, you know, there are a lot of area in that area. >> bill: all right, chris. we appreciate you taking

the time tonight. let's go to george so he can -- scogill who was a block away from the explosions. can you tell us what you saw there, george? >> sure. i was actually in a department store i was at lord and taylor in copley plaza. i heard the first explosion and the building shook. there was visible construction going on nearby building. i didn't think did t. was a prank i thought it was construction are demolition thing. the second one went off 10 or 12 singsdz later. people started heading for the exit. so i went outside and i saw spectators just running up the hill away from boilston street. you could smell smoke. i couldn't really see anything but i saw a lot of scared people and crying people. i went back in the department store. there were people who had come in from the boylston

street entrance i guess and up the excan a later. i was trying to figure out what happened. i heard explosion and bomb and couple of other things. i went to sky bridge that connects the rest of the store to the rest of the plaza. my first inticket is my happy okay? >> bill: whatgoing on. we have press conference going on. >> i will make a couple of comments and then turn it over to rick who is a special agent in charge of the fbi's office here and then ask commissioner ed davis to make some comments and then we are has been to take any questions that you may have. as you all know, this whole community has been dealing with a horrific event today, two explosions on boylston street near the finish line of today's boston marathon. over 100 people were injured. so many gravely. we are not ready to confirm

the details of those injuries. they were federal state and local law enforcement all on scene and coordinating very closely the fbi has taken charge of the investigation as i mentioned special agent in charge rick delorea will speak to that in just a minute. this is an active investigation particularly in the several blocks around boylston street but around that blast area that is a crime scene. the national guard has secured that crime scene and is limbing access to it that will effect not just this evening but the next day or two while the investigation continues. a support center has been opened at the point plaza castle on arlington and columbus avenue. runners, there were several runners who were unable to finish the race as you know because the race was stopped at mass avenue right after the event.

those -- there are buses bringing those runners are from various cities and towns along the route to that support station now. families who have not had a chance yet to connect or other friends and supporters not yet had a chance to connect with runners or who have other needs can check in there at the support center. the city, the mayor and his staff have made staff available at the support center to help meet people's needs. otherwise, the stiff boston is open and will be open tomorrow but it will not be business as usual: it will be a heightened law enforcement presence consistent with the severity and seriousness of the ongoing investigation. people should expect those who are riding the t that there will be random checks of backpacks and other parcels and we just ask everyone to be patient with that inconvenience for the time being. it is for the public's

safety. we are also asking that everyone be on a state of heightened vigilance. that is really required of everyone. please report suspicious packages or parcels, suspicious activity to local law enforcement. i also want to say that there have been a number of stories that i have heard this afternoon of residents in boston and along the route in the cities and towns that the marathon passes through of extraordinary kindness shown to runners and others, neighbors and visitors who are as shaken by this experience as we are. and we so appreciate those kindnesses and thank you for them. we're going to get through this. we do not have all the answers to all of your questions yet. not all of you here in the media and others around the commonwealth or around the country of the world. i can tell you from the

president to the members of our congressional delegates to many, many fellow governors who have called to check in to all of the leaders from law enforcement hered in the state at the local level and at the federal level, we are all coming together to do everything we can to get to the bottom of this. let me turn the podium over now to special agent in charge rick delorai. >> thank you very much governor patrick. the most important fact that i wanted to convey to everybody this evening has already been mentioned by governor patrick. the fbi has taken the lead in this investigation it is asserting federal jurisdiction it will do so through the boston task force. members of which are comprised by the members of the law enforcement agencies represented here by the podium. this will be a combined federal state and local effort it will be an ongoing investigation. it is is a criminal investigation that is -- has the potential -- is a potential terrorist investigation. we will be working

diligently to gather information and gather all the fax and bring all those responsible for this crime to justice as swiftly as possible. it is ongoing investigation as governor patrick mentioned. i'm not at liberty right now to go into details of that investigation. echoing governor patrick's words i encourage everyone to have a heightened state of vigilance here in the boston area tonight and tomorrow as we move forward. i urge anybody who has any information pertaining to this crime to call 1-800-call-fbi. this is a tip line we have set up ready to receive tips that might come in or leads that might come in. the fbi is bringing a substantial, very, very substantial federal resources to bear along with our federal partners, atf is well represented here. gene marquez key allies of ours. tremendous resources to bear. all federal resources that

can be brought to bear will be brought up here to the boston area. with that being said, i will turn it over now. i think u.s. attorney or words and then turn it over to commissioner davis. >> yes. good evening. i just want to echo the governor has said and what many others have said throughout the day today that this is a horrific threagd in our city of boston and we, on behalf of the department of justice are here to provide all the resources necessary to this investigation. there are a lot of questions and questions that we wish we could answer at this point. but what can i assure you is that this is a very thorough and active and fluid ongoing investigation. and i ask you that you help with that. quite frankly, i know that there is a lot of information that is being sought as the governor said. there has been a bit of misinformation. we do not want to add to

that misinformation and what we want to do is to continue to investigate this matter, get to the individual, or individuals that may be responsible for this, and the department of justice is prepared to provide all of the assistance necessary to our not only the fbi and atf and our other federal agencies but our state and local partners as well. so, i just wanted to echo that on behalf of the department. thank you. >> thank you. on behalf of the mayor, i would like to offer my sympathies thought victims and the families of this horrendous event. this cowardly act will not be taken in stride. we will turn every rock over to find the people who are responsible for this. we are working very closely with my partner rick delorai. the boston police department has been on the

scene since this has happened. there has been horrendous loss of life. at least three people have died in this event. the number of injuries and the people injured is an unfolding issue right now. we will not have hard figures on that until tomorrow morning. there were all sorts of questions that are being asked. i want to stress one thing. there is no suspect at brigham women's hospital. there are people that we are talking two. there is no suspect at brigham and women's hospital that has been wisely reported in the press. -- widely reported in the press. i would like to fix that right now. there will be questions that you have and we'll do our best to answer them, but this is still very early in the investigation. as the governor said will not be business as usual in boston. the boston police department is on emergency deployment. we are working 12-hour shifts and there will be a significant police presence throughout the city. please give us some space around the copley area as

we process this scene. if there are any pieces of information, photos from the incident, getting those to the two tip lines, the fbi tip line primarily. they are now in charge of the investigation because of the nature of this investigation as well as the boston police line at 1-800-494-tips. i would like to invite the district attorney dan carney. >> thank you very much, commissioner. earlier this afternoon, like some bostonians, i was on boylston street near the finish line had left about 30 minutes before this incident occurred. colonel albin and special agent and top staff went down to the scene it was a large and disturbing scene. like each of you, i am praying for the victims and their loved ones. this is a terrible, terrible day for them. they, and the public at large, can count on our

very best and most seamless work in the days to work. seconds after those bombs went off, we saw civilians running to help the victims right alongside members of the boston police department. and boston ems. and in the hours that followed, police and medical personnel from across the region have sent dozens, maybe even hundreds of volunteers to help us here in boston. >> moments before the bomb went off. is this a another attack homeland security committee. hands on the street? >> no. next question? >> you have said that there is no suspect but is there a person of interest either

at park plaza or bringing nam women? are people -- i'm not going to comment on specific investigative leads that are ongoing right now i'm not at liberty to. but there is investigative activity ongoing right now. but i'm not at liberty to comment on the specifics of that? >> it is a very active and fluid investigation at this time. all resources, federal, state and local are brought to bear. >> you can comment on that how many explosive devices? >> again, i'm not going to comment on specifics of the investigation right now in terms of the number of explosives that were found at the location. >> i'm not going to comment evidence analysis is ongoing right now and it would be imprudent for knee comment before that evidentiary review. >> once you find those people who work in the area, [inaudible] what should people do tomorrow?

>> in the -- can i answer that? >> in the area that is cordoned off crime scene which is basically runs along boilston street from berkeley to mass avenue and then north to newberry street and south to huntington street. that's the secure area right now. now, that may get smaller over the course of the next several hours of investigation. but that area is not going to be accessible for normal traffic. there are people in hotels and people who live there who have to work out how they get to and from where they need to be. but, otherwise i think it's tear to say that investigation is going to be locked down. >> people can walk to their offices or walk to work. >> i think some of that has to be sorted out. it's not going to be easy, simple, or regular, and i think in most cases, people are not going to be able to have access to that

specific area as it evolves over the course of the night. >> so what should people do? >> exactly. this is -- i would say in this sense this is like storms we have dealt with where we are very much going to depend on you. as soon as we get information, we will put that out and we will count on you to get it out to the general public. ♪ are you positive you found all the explosives? are you confident that people are safe now? >> i'm not prepared to say that we are at ease at this point in time. we are still actively pursuing every lead that we

have. >> you can confirm 8-year-old child was killed? >> i'm not going to confirm that the for you now. we have that for you. the medical people will have that as you speak. >> extent of the injuries how serious. >> this was a powerful blast with serious serious injuries. >> ♪ investigation the entire route? >> well, the investigation will lead us in various places. but right now that area that the governor outlined is our main point of focus right now. >> telling people to be calm before the bomb went off? >> search for additional devices? are you searching entire marathon or focused on certain areas right now. specific areas you are focused on beyond the co