this is an attack not just on paris and not just on the people of france but this is an attack on all of humanity and the universal values that we share. the french people have stood shoulder to shoulder with the united states time and time again and we stand together with them. this is a heartbreaking situation. >> good evening. welcome to a special edition of "dateline." i'm lester holt. it is the deadliest violence in paris since world war ii.

coordinated and devastating series of attacks across the city tonight targeting at least six different sites and leaving 120 deed. the highest death toll was at a paris concert hall where the audience was taken hostage and at least 100 people killed. police say there were also two suicide attacks and a bombing near the national stadium where a soccer game was under way. there was another attack on a crowded french restaurant. police say they believe all of the attackers are now dead. the french government has declared a state of emergency and closed its borders. tonight, secretary of state john kerry is describing the attacks as heinous, evil and vial. keir simmons has the latest details. >> reporter: chaos on the streets of paris tonight. gunfire ringing out. a mass hostage taking and simultaneous reports of multiple explosions at a restaurant. the death toll at least 120. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: amid the confusion,

there appeared to be as many as six or seven separate incidents. reports that a 100 people are dead after the hostage taking at a concert hall where the american band eagles of death metal were playing. witnesses say shooters walked through the building killing people one by one. a shooting at a shopping mall. at least 11 people killed there alone and police said two suicide attacks outside the french national stadium where france and germany were holding a soccer game. explosions could be heard inside the stadium. the fans were held on lockdown. one of the spectators was president hollande. rushed from the stadium. within an hour, he was chairing an emergency meeting. while french police and military flooded the streets, the president mobilizing 1500 troops. emergency workers were seen carrying away the injured. echos of a "charlie hebdo" attack where multiple shooters targeted a magazine office.

on twitter, paris is burning began trending. in paris, there is shock and fear tonight. tonight there are reports they were wearing suicide vests and blew themselves up when the security services stormed the building. the french police are saying they believe all the attackers are dead. the french president declaring a state of emergency. france must be strong, he said. lester? >> keir, let's take a closer look at the hostage massacre inside that theater. the concert hall in paris where scores are dead, an american band was on stage when the gunmen stormed in. the bataclan club is a half mile from the site of "charlie hebdo". 12 people died then. tonight, the toll at the music venue is much, much higher. here's anne thompson. >> reporter: inside the bataclan

hall is carnage. the intimate club with room for a thousand patrons turned into a shooting gallery by terrorists. at least 100 people killed. along with gunfire, paris police say the attackers tossed explosives at their hostages. ♪ on stage, an american band. eagles of death metal. the six-man group from palm desert, california, was in the middle of a european tour. the show at the bataclan sold out. the band's facebook page says they are currently trying to determine the whereabouts of the band and crew but tonight nbc news has confirmed one person affiliated with the band is dead. just before midnight, paris police stormed the concert hall to free the hostages. automatic gunfire and sirens filled the nearby streets. police say they killed at least two attackers. french tv reports four attackers are dead and three blew themselves up with suicide explosive belts. tonight, french president francois hollande went to the scene saying france will bring

the fight against terrorism and will be without pity. now, as the attacks happened, tonight u2 was rehearsing at the arena for tomorrow night's concert on hbo. someone with the band says the rehearsal was stopped and everyone was given a security brief and the entire band was taken back to their hotel where they were held underground until that hotel was secure. u2 just announced it is canceling saturday night's concert. lester? >> anne, thank you. we want to go now to a man who witnessed the horror of the concert hall firsthand. julien pierce is joining us by telephone. thank for joining us. we're glad you're okay. why don't you simply start by telling us what you saw. >> well, the show was running since 40, 45 minutes and the

band was playing on stage and the crowd was huge. the concert hall was full and the venue was sold out. there were about a thousand people inside the concert hall when the first gunfires -- we heard the first gunshot. and at first we didn't know if it was actually gunshots. i was in the front of the stage so when i looked back, i saw two or three men wearing black clothes and masks and holding assault rifles, ak-47s. >> what was the crowd doing at this moment? >> just singing. just dancing to the music. we were having a wonderful time. we were just enjoying the music. so -- it just happened like

lightning. and so when i looked back, i saw these three men shooting at us. and they were shooting automatic rifles, so not just one gunshot per gunshot. they were just unloading the gun towards us. >> were they saying anything as they fired in to the crowd? >> i can't tell. i can't tell because as soon as the first gunshots -- the people started to scream, to yell. and so we all lied on the floor and many people tried to walk on the bodies to try to escape the bullets. >> and we know you made your way out over the stage and helped those that you could. julien pierce, thank you for

sharing your account with us. sam champion, our friend with the weather channel was in paris for a climate conference. he witnessed some of the chaos in the aftermath. sam, tell us what it was like on the streets of paris tonight. >> lester, even before i do that, i want to tell you right behind on the other side as we were coming around to get to the shot right now, there is an armed tactical team on the other side. one black van, a couple of officers with automatic rifles standing guard between two buildings and virtually half a block away there's a cluster of people huddled at a bus stop unable to get a taxi, unable to get anywhere. these pele are just trying to get home. the city's in shutdown, lockdown, as you've been reporting all night long. when we last talked to you and left you, we went on a tour across the city. we left this area, went across the fence, went over to the eiffel tower.

we had set up our studio for the climate reality 24 hour broadcast. the eiffel tower has gone dark to honor those who were killed in these mass shootings. and the entire area is oh so quiet. lester, i want to choose the words carefully just to tell you that these streets are silent. there are very few cars that moved through. earlier in the evening there would be clusters of emergency vehicles going through. the only thing moving through town with some kind of flashing light on it. and now people are inside and you can see there are few lights on in paris. it's still very early in the morning now but some people just seemingly unable to sleep. streets very quiet. but that just -- i just wanted to tell you what it was like to come around and see automatic weapons on one corner of a building and people huddled under a bus shelter just trying to get home on the other. >> sam champion, thank you very much. here in the u.s., president obama quickly moved to condemn the paris attacks. nbc's kelly o'donnell is standing by for us at the white

house this evening. kelly, good evening. >> good evening. president obama is still in the white house tonight and he moved quickly to speak to the nation saying there were so many facts that were not yet known but he wanted to offer friendship, sympathy, condolences to the french people and a promise to help in any way the u.s. can. >> once again, we've seen an outrageous attempt to terrorize innocent civilians. this is an attack not just on paris. it's an attack not just on the people of france but this is an attack on all of humanity and the universal values that we share. we stand prepared and ready to provide whatever assistance that the government and the people of france need to respond. france is our oldest ally. the french people have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the united states time and again. we want to be very clear that we

stand together with them in the fight against terrorism and extremism. we are reminded in this time of tragedy that the bonds are not only values that the french people care so deeply about but they are values that we share. and those values are going to endure far beyond any act of terrorism or the hateful vision of those who perpetrated the crimes this evening. >> and tonight, officials >> and tonight, officials here say the president does plan to keep his travel over to turkey tomorrow. he would be leaving here tomorrow afternoon. so no change in his schedule just yet. and of course, tonight homeland security officials say that they are in touch with their counterparts in france. they are talking to local and state law enforcement around the country but so far no credible threats inside the u.s. they are also reaching out to the private sector to make sure if there are in cases where

there needs to be a change in the security posture here at home but so far no indication of that. and also, lester, the president is due to visit paris later this month where there will be a climate summit in that city. unclear if those plans will change. lester? >> kelly o'donnell, thanks. andrea mitchell is with us here and justice correspondent pete williams is in washington. andrea, i know you've been working your sources all evening long. andrea, let me start with you. obviously very coordinated and a very sophisticated attack and leads to the obvious question, why wasn't something on that level picked up? >> and that is the question. the french have very good intelligence and share with us all the time. we supposedly have very good intelligence, the best in the world. and the fact is, there was no warning of this. they are going back now to the counterterrorism center to see if they missed something or was this on social media, was this some kind of electronic surveillance that it was a threat, a coded threat that they

did not pick up. but the fact is, they didn't see anything coming and that is very concerning to american intelligence and to the french. the president said he had not called president hollande, understanding that they were still in the response mode. he did not want to throw them down or interfere but normally we would be getting a lot of information from the french. >> all right. we want to go -- we have the university of washington student adam kirk on the line who was in paris. adam, tell us where you were when these attacks played out. >> yeah, i'm just around the corner from the bataclan theater. >> and what did you see and hear tonight? >> yeah. so it started -- i can't even remember what time it was local time but i was following the germany and france game, the soccer game on twitter and i had heard something about a possible explosion. and then i heard many sirens going past my courtyard which i

never hear. it's a very quiet area. and then right after that, maybe five, ten minutes later i heard two or three major explosions, some gunshots. and then it actually went pretty quiet for about an hour. obviously there was still a lot of sirens and whatnot. and then i'm at the point where i read online, about the same time that they were going to go in and try to free the hostages, i heard about five major explosions, the loudest thing i've ever heard. and then about 100 to 150 people came rushing in to my courtyard led by the police and the door was slammed shut and they stayed there for three to four hours. >> these are people who had been taken from the theater? >> i cannot say that with absolute certainty. it seems more than likely, based on the explosions, followed by all of these people coming and i would say, you know, most likely. but again, i can't say that for 100% certainty. >> as we've been noting, there were attacks on probably six different points in paris. were you aware of that at the time, that the entire city was

under siege? >> yeah. actually, i have a couple of friends who were actually on their way towards my place here to hang out for the night and they said they were hearing things in different parts of the city and then all of a sudden they basically were stuck, you know, right where they were. they couldn't get any closer. my street is actually -- if you go outside the courthouse, which i haven't gone out for safety reasons, it's completely blocked on both sides. military, fully armed, you know, huge guns, things like that right outside our front door and there's a triage unit set up basically between where i am and where the bataclan theater is. >> adam, i don't know if you were there in january during the "charlie hebdo" attacks but certainly you're aware of them. to be there tonight with this happening, how are you feeling? >> actually, i was not in paris at the time of the "charlie hebdo" attacks but i heard a lot about them and i knew i was going to be going to paris when i heard about that. it made me a little uneasy but i was faith in everybody and

thought everything was going to be okay. the only thing i would say is a lot of people have been calling and wanting to interview me and at the end of the day, the story is not about me because i'm obviously okay. there's hundreds of people who lost somebody tonight and i would say that's the key thing to focus on in a moment like this. >> nonetheless, adam, i'm sure your family is happy to hear that you are well. thank you so much for joining us and offering your account. i want to continue the discussion about intelligence that was apparently missed in this, as we've noticed. pete williams is watching this play out. pete, to the extent that everyone was caught by surprise, what is going on right now to make sure that the u.s. homeland is not under an immediate threat? >> well, they say they know of no specific or credible threat but some of the major police departments have decided on their own to step up their street patrols. new york city police probably responded first. dispatched to crowded areas to provide a visible police presence. teams were also sent to french government locations in new york

city and here in washington and new york state police say they are stepping up their presence at big public gatherings and so were sheriff deputies in los angeles. they are telling their officers, be extra vigilant and many concert halls and sports arenas across the country tonight say they are adding extra security. lester? >> we talk about this being a sophisticated attack. but really what we've seen so far, i'll say this to the both of you, we've seen before, there was mumbai, there was a terrorist hostage taking in moscow. we're talking guns and bombs here, andrea. does this change the game in terms of intelligence? >> it does because they obviously communicated with each other. there were multiple sites. this is coordinated. and they had some sophisticated weapons, some advanced weaponry which is not that common except in the criminal elements, the terror elements. in europe, because of their gun laws there. they had to communicate and the question is, how did they communicate? because there is such good

surveillance on cell phones and there's such good communications ability by the intelligence gathering in europe. especially in france. especially in great britain and in the united states so they may have been communicating via social media or through code. that's the kind of thing that is very concerning to u.s. intelligence. we'll have much more. richard engel will have more about who might be behind this. stay with us. we're back in a moment. yes... let's go... ...dear. (vo) always going the extra mile. pick enterprise. we'll pick you up.

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describe what you saw in that restaurant. >> i was in a restaurant with my friend and all of a sudden we heard these huge gunshots, sounded like loud explosions and everybody jumped to the floor in confusion and panic i was lying on the floor and heard numerous more gunshots coming through the window and pieces of glass was hitting everybody that was lying down. i grabbed hold of the woman next to me to see if she was okay and she had been shot in her chest and she was full of blood and i'm not sure she was breathing. so then i realized how serious it was. we stayed in the restaurant for

a while. i'm sure it was safe to leave and as soon as we thought it was safe to leave, my friend and i made a quick getaway. i live 15 minutes away so we ran out of the restaurant. >> did you see the attackers? >> no, i didn't. i had my head to the floor. i believe there was more than one. it definitely sounded that way. they didn't come inside the restaurant. it seemed to be a drive-by, although it also seemed that they stopped and reloaded their guns and then fired another round. so we were not sure whether or not it was over or not and -- yeah. just generally that was the feeling of terror. >> and then when it was over and you made your way out of the restaurant, can you give us a sense for the magnitude of what

you saw? >> the impact didn't really hit us initially and what was really strange was that nowhere else was anybody aware of what had just taken place. literally just a number of, you know, blocks down, people weren't aware that there had been a shooting. we were running out screaming and crying and people in all of the neighboring clubs and bars didn't have any idea. but it wasn't surprising to me when i heard later reports that it was a coordinated attack because, to me, the feeling i had was exactly the feeling i had during the "charlie hebdo" attacks, the feeling it was something larger, it was something more sinister. >> well, as a journalist, certainly you cover these sorts of things but to be in it, to witness it for yourself, how are you processing emotionally what you have been through? >> it's funny you ask that

because i'm not sure i am. emotionally, i think it's just a very matter of fact to me and i think that's normal. i think that's exactly the way my friend who was with me felt. it was like it wasn't real, it wasn't happening. it's the kind of thing that you see in films or, for instance, i work in the news. it's the kind of thing i watch, i write about all the time and it's not something that you ever factor coming in to your world. so -- >> you mentioned the "charlie hebdo" attack less than a year ago. >> right. >> and now this. paris is a wonderful, charming city that so many people know and enjoy. what is this doing, do you think, to the collective psyche of the people that call paris home right now? >> i think with my knowledge of -- what the city went through

during "charlie hebdo," i think it will unite people. i think it gives people a stronger sense of identity and a stronger sense of what it means to be alive, what it means to be with your loved ones. that's definitely how i feel. but i think i would say and i am an ex-pat living in paris, it makes people cherish their city more and i want it to be protected and i want the people to be united. that's what i think. >> and then to have witnessed what you have witnessed and then you no doubt heard about the siege at the concert hall, what did you feel when you heard that? >> i felt like i had been punched in the stomach because i had felt like we were so lucky. i felt like it was too good to be true in a strange sense, that we had just got ouand that we were fine, completely unscathed. i had a tiny shard of glass that hit me in the face.

nothing else. and i thought to myself -- and i wasn't aware how many people had died at the restaurant and i thought to myself, this is crazy, this is crazy that barely any people were injured, as far as i was aware and then when i heard about the hostage situation, i suddenly thought this is so, so gruesome and i can't imagine the fear that that must have brought upon these people being held hostage for an hour. >> charlotte, you have been through a lot. we appreciate you taking the time and sharing your account with us and we're glad you're okay. thanks so much. >> thank you. >> we'll be back in a moment with more of this special edition of "dateline," the effect these massacres are having around the world. store in america.y

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welcome back to our special edition of "dateline," darkness

in the city of light tonight. with at least 120 people dead, reports of at least 200 wounded after a highly coordinated series of terror attacks throughout paris. the head of the paris police say all of the attackers are now believed to be dead. this was the scene tonight. paris was under attack on friday. terror struck at multiple locations. at a concert hall, gunfire, hostages. more than 100 people killed. at a restaurant, more gunfire. security experts wondered who was behind what appeared to be a series of sophisticated, coordinated attacks. it began after dark. 80,000 people were watching a soccer game between france and germany when multiple explosions were heard outside. one of the spectators was the french president himself. across town, shots rang out at this restaurant.

gunmen stormed inside and started shooting anyone in sight. at least 11 were reported killed. nearby bars and restaurants were evacuated. an eyewitness described the police response. >> police officers with guns drawn and hiding behind vans and dozens and dozens of firefighters appeared to be closing off the road and first you hear somebody got shot and then five or six shots went off and then you hear, no, it was five or six shots from a kalashnikov ak-47 rifle and that the gunmen were still on the loose. >> and then filled with young people, an american band was playing when gunmen armed with kalashnikovs barged in. some people escaped but those left behind were held hostage at the mercy of the gunmen.

the massacre ended when police stormed the concert hall. the attackers are all reported dead. firefighters began the grim task of taking out people dead and alive. there had been at least seven -- six attacks in total around the city. police ordered people to stay indoors. the french president, who had been whisked from the stadium, ordered a state of emergency and closed the borders. there has been no claim of responsibility yet for the death and destruction carried out in paris this evening. let's get to nbc chief news foreign correspondent richard engel live in istanbul. richard, there was a time that this happened, the first name that came up would be al qaeda. lately we talk about isis. any signatures here that point one way or the other? >> reporter: well, you have competing signatures. and i think it's important to think of this not as a series of coordinated attacks but one attack. this was a military-style

commando attack and the first bombing, the series of bombings at the stadium. not coincidentally, i don't think, during the -- one of the most important football games of the year, soccer games of the year, broadcast live on national television, the french president inside. that kind of attack would draw a lot of attention. it would draw first responders. it would draw police, security services. then, a second or even third or fourth team carried out a much more deadly phase of the attack, opening fire at that restaurant at nearby bars and then the hostage and massacre in the concert hall. so that leaves the question, who can do this kind of attack? you have to stockpile the weapons, you have to organize a team, you have to have people it suggests who have military experience and one senior counterterrorism official i spoke to said this is likely the work, in his assessment and his

assessment of other analysts, of al qaeda or an al qaeda affiliate. they have this kind of experience. they are familiar with grand attacks on an international scale and al qaeda has a lot to prove these days because al qaeda hasn't been doing much since the death of bin laden. it has been overshadowed by isis. and al qaeda and isis fight effectively for the same recruits. but it could be at the hands of isis. many of them going back to europe. and if it were isis, u.s. counterterrorism officials say it would be a new kind of isis. it would be an isis that is now truly international. an isis that is more dangerous. an isis that just recently claimed to have carried out multiple suicide attacks in beirut on thursday. claims, although still unconfirmed, that it brought down a russian passenger jet killing over 200 civilians in the sinai.

and if isis were able to do this attack in a western capital, it would be something significantly different out of their familiar area of operations and it would also say things about u.s. foreign policy. it would say that the u.s.' war on isis, the u.s.' strategy on isis right now doesn't seem to be working. >> richard, let me bring in national security and military analyst and executive editor of defense kevin baron. thank you for joining us. the french president is already vowing to retaliate against whoever did this. that's easier said than done in a world where it's not necessarily state actors. >> that's absolutely right. ash carter has issued his statement of solidarity with the french, pointing out that the u.s. and the french have been working together in this fight that stretches from liberia to the indian ocean.

this is an enormous fight against terrorism. we're not even sure exactly who conducted the attack. that's a strong statement. >> let's look at this a little farther back now in terms of the united states and what things might have been missed here and how vulnerable we might be. looking at the weapons, what we know of the weapons, reports of grenades as the sort of things used tonight, would those be more difficult for a group to use in this country? >> well, in this country, the great fear was an attack from overseas or an attack that is homegrown or a homegrown-inspired attack. that's the new wave here. already you're already seeing counterterrorism officials saying they don't have any credible evidence of an attack here. but to gather grenades, arms, certainly that's exactly what i think the domestic homeland security officials are afraid of, much more than al qaeda operatives who are in syria or

in the region traversing all the way across the land. it's different for europe. clearly different for europe. this is where the foreign fighters are coming from. that's who jihadi john was. he was a britain that went to the war there. there's that notion of keeping america at a distance from this fight. >> i mentioned to andrea earlier, we've seen this before. we've certainly seen the mumbai attack. it reminds us how vulnerable we are. is there really any defense against this sort of attack? >> well, that's the big question. i think what is new right now in the american government is how the government is figuring out how to blend and combine the counterterrorism efforts, which is an intelligence effort, with homeland security, something like chattanooga. this country has seen the lone wonderful attack, but it has not seen the large coordinated city. and that really is the big fear.

the big city attack. one indicator is just recently the secretary of homeland security has asked the administration to renew the terror alert system, something we haven't seen since it was changed, since the old color coded one was changed. there is a fear that if that alert system was sparked, if it was invoked once, it would cause panic amongst the journalists or amongst the public. they are already trying to get ahead of that game. >> kevin baron and richard engel, thanks to both of you. when we come back, the latest reports from paris on the investigation into these attacks. as we go to break, the sounds of the french national anthem where two suicide attacks occurred outside. ♪

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we're back with our special edition of "dateline." france is under a state of emergency tonight after a series of attacks in paris. at least 120 people killed at multiple locations. the largest of those massacres occurring at a concert theater. i want to bring in a french journalist and white house correspondent. laura, what are you hearing from your colleagues overseas, specifically if we can walk you through what happened at the theater. was the attack purely inside or was it from both inside and outside? >> it was inside in multiple locations and then some people arrived inside the theater and it was absolutely horrible. according to some witnesses, the attacker went to the theater arrived from the backstage and then they began to fire on people. multiple fires. it was extremely violent.

the ceiling fell down on the head of the people listening to the concert. and then i heard one attacker had cap on his head and he was looking at a couple, absolutely petrified. and the couple began to shake and said to them, you can go, you can go. and then he looked at a woman. the woman began to throw an object and then he killed her. then it was complete panic, according to a report, someone blew themselves up inside the theater. we have more details of this moment about how many terrorists who are killed tonight, four inside the theater, three killed themselves, three bombers outside the stadium and apparently -- and it's the last news -- there was another terrorist who kill himself or

was shot in a street in paris near the theater. >> so that would take it to seven different locations of attacks? >> yes, seven different locations. it's like the yankee stadium of new york and then you have multiple attacks across the street in two or three restaurants and also the hostage situation in the theater which is a music hall in paris. it would be like inside broadway. some people shooting in the restaurants near broadway and then a theater attack in the middle of broadway. >> and then in terms of what happened at the soccer stadium, we were seeing some of the footage of the game. we hear an explosion. that all occurred outside, correct? >> yeah. it happened outside and it was suicide bombers who detonated their vests, apparently, and a tank of gas outside the stadium when the president was there. the president was, according to

our reports, never targeted. he was, however, quickly evacuated. and the people thought at the beginning that it was firework. and then after hearing the explosion, they realized that it was not fireworks but it was probably an attack and then the police arrived and said that it was suicide bombers. >> all right. laura haim, white house correspondent, thank you for that late information. we appreciate it. we're back in a moment on this special edition of "dateline" with how these attacks in paris are impacting global air travel.

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we're back on this special edition of "dateline" with our continuing coverage of the deadly terror attacks in paris. for a look at how the events of this evening are impacting air travel, let's bring in nbc's tom coast tell low who covers aviation for us. what are you hearing? >> air travel appears to be going as normal. they have been receiving flights through the night. we checked with the u.s. airlines that fly into paris. american airlines says it

canceled one flight out of dallas tonight but of its other flights, some were delayed. all those supposed to fly tonight. same with united airlines and delta, all flights flying tonight. at new york's jfk airport, wnbc talked to one passenger waiting to depart for france. >> it's very terrible. we just saw it a couple of hours ago. we saw it on tv. we are very under shock. it's really shocking. >> are your family and friends okay? >> hopefully, yes. i have not had my family on the phone. they should be okay. >> we also checked with the faa this evening. they tell us that it is coordinating with french and european and aviation authorities but as of now it's not altering any protocols as it relates to any flights to or from france. the farks faa does say it is prepared to take any action in the event that action is warranted. as you know, there's always beefed up, stepped up security at airports worldwide.

we're likely to see that in the coming hours and days in europe but here in the united states, there is no specific or credible threat -- again, it's not aware of any specific or credible threat against the united states homeland. lester? >> tom costello, thank you. when we come back on this special edition of "dateline," we'll go to keir simmons for a live update on the attacks in paris. it's why we, at university of phoenix, count your relevant work and college experience as credits toward your degree. learn more at phoenix.edu. pc does what!?

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what's the matter with the journalist? >> do you know who her mother >> as a parent. how do you tell the story? this isn't just news. this is people's lives. this child has just been brought across the border. she wouldn't walk on her own. new york city is standing in

solidarity with paris tonight and the far left of your screen in the back, the empire state building normally would be lit brightly on a friday night. it's dark tonight in honor of the attack in france. and there you see the one world trade center, its tower ablaze with the colors of france. we're back with this special edition of "dateline." before we leave you, we want to go back to keir simmons in london. he's monitoring all the latest developments coming in. keir, what do we know at this hour? >> as of tonight, the death toll in paris is at least 120 and some french media are putting it as high as 140. all of the shooters are now dead, according to the police. some may have been responsible for multiple attacks, maybe six or seven sites across the city. in one case, we're hearing reports of four men firing into a restaurant for more than a minute and then turning and walking away. in another case, two suicide

bombers outside a stadium where a soccer match was underway, including the french president among the spectators there. 100 hostages have been killed in a concert hall where an american band was playing. reports say the attackers killed people one by one, even throwing grenades. french president hollande says paris must be strong, big and firm. the terrorists want to scare us but faced with fear, we are a nation who knows how to defend ourselves. they are talking tonight about this being the worst perhaps attack in france in decades. even have to go to the history books to find examples as bad as what they are living through tonight in paris and france. >> keir simmons from london for us. that is going to wrap up our special edition of "dateline." matt lauer and savannah guthrie will anchor a special edition of the "today" show. that's thunderstorm morning --

tomorrow morning. for now, i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, thanks for watching and good night. identifying the bodies... (nats)

the terror is not over. at this hour they are still identifying the bodies. and desperately searching for clues. paris has been crippled and the world is reacting. san francisco city hall