there's not one way to do something. no details too small. american express open forum. this is what membership is. this is what membership does. breaking news in paris. a new search for clues at the site where one of two deadly sieges ended in france's deadliest terror attack in decades. this morning, new information about what led to the decision to launch simultaneous attacks. plus, more details about the weapons used in those attacks. how did the suspects get their hands on them in a country known for strict gun laws? also the tributes in paris and beyond to remember the 17 lives lost in those attacks. good morning, everyone. welcome to a special edition of "weekends with alex witt." the shooting rampage that had terrorized the french capital since wednesday is over.

at least 17 french citizens were killed. those attacks began wednesday at the office of the newspaper charlie hebdo. late friday french police raided a printing factory. the two were killed in the gun battle with police. meanwhile, an associate of the suspects took several hostages at a kosher market in paris and he was killed as heavily armed police raided that shop. four hostages died in that siege.siege siege. french authorities are now searching for this woman. and the main synagogue in paris will remain closed today. it is the first time that temple has been closed on the jewish sabbath since world war ii. let's go to more to richard engel on how it all unfolded. >> this tiny french village suddenly became a war zone. at 9:00 local maintenance worker pascal heard helicopters

overhead. his boss called him, he said to tell him to stay inside just doors from where the gunmen were holed up. but he went instead, to a nearby school. i gathered the children and helped usher them into classrooms, he said. at that moment police descended on the village. quickly sealing it off. the kouachi brothers were surrounded. french police brought in helicopters. at nearby charles de gaulle airport, a runway was closed air traffic diverted. at 9:40 barricaded into the printing press, cherif kouachi spoke to a french journalist by phone. [ speaking foreign language ] i was sent by al qaeda in yemen, he said it was anwar al awlaki who financed me. he was one of al qaeda's top recruiters killed by a u.s. drone in yemen in 2011. as he spoke, worried parents in

the village gathered their children still hiding in the school. by midday police snipers were in place. french authorities decided it was too dangerous. the children had to be moved. they were taken out in small groups. 15-year-old marvin said we were surprised to hear what was going on. this is such a quiet village. then near dusk two explosions one caught on camera. the sound of gunfire. children started running to the buses. this was the most dangerous time, but it was over in just minutes. the kouachi brothers had come out shooting. and they were quickly shot dead. their hostage was unharmed. richard engel, nbc news france. >> let's now go to paris and nbc's ron allen standing by for us. ron, with a good morning to you, you were on the air all day yesterday as this all unfolded. talk about the scene there today

and the reaction and the aftermath. >> reporter: well, alex i think people are still trying to understand, get their head around, and almost accept that this has happened. it's a day of national grief, a day of reflection a day of trying to figure out how this could have happened and what to do about it and what to do whether something else will happen. there's a real concern about the threat of more attacks. there was a high-level meeting of the government this morning. there'll be more meetings throughout the day. security is being increased in a number of places like houses of worship. here in the center of paris, you can see behind me there are people gathering. it's a normal day, a dreary day, a cloudy day. a lot of people will be here tomorrow, huge crowds are expected, hundreds of thousands, perhaps, for a march of solidarity, when there will be leaders here from across europe as well coming to pay their respects, to come in solidarity and support the french people in this time of -- it's a very

troubling time. on the other hand now, authorities are, of course trying to dig into the past of the culprits, of the gunmen who are responsible for this. they were known to authorities. that's one very troubling, yet revealing aspect of this entire episode. they were known to authorities, they had within tracked by authorities at different points but for some reason they seemed to have fallen below the radar somewhat, or perhaps the other way of thinking about this is that the government saw other more greater, more imminent threats. they have limited resources to conduct 24/7 surveillance around these suspected terrorists, who are here in paris, and there are literally dozens of them here in paris and beyond across france. so the bottom line a day of reflection, a day of trying to figure out what happened and a day of trying to figure out how to move forward. and of course a lot of concern about possibly more threats. >> you bring up a very cogent point there, that these were known to officials as being

potential terrorists. these were known some ten years ago, in fact at first count. i'm going to ask my director murray to throw up another graphic that we had earlier, which shows the one person that is still being sought. and that is this 26-year-old hayat boumediene. so what are officials saying about her and is she the reason that they worry about future attacks or is it a broader base than that ron? >> it's a broader concern, but the woman, yeah she's an accomplice. she is considered armed and extremely dangerous. she is on the run. we don't know. and it's a big question mark hanging over this entire situation. there is some speculation that she was in the market the supermarket, that was attacked at some point, but that's not clear. there are reports that she may have escaped there are reports that she may have been killed. it's hard to imagine that someone in that market who's a suspect, could have escaped. the police were there, the security forces were there relatively quickly. there were a lot of people in the market, however, a lot of

employees, a lot of shoppers, because this is a time when the markets would be filled with shoppers gathering food and other supplies for the weekend and so forth and for the jewish holy day, the next day. so a lot of confusion about what had been going on in the market but very unlikely that she escaped. she is considered armed and dangerous. but the other concern, i believe, is more so about the links, the connections that the kouachi brothers have with other terrorist organizations, particularly al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, and others here in paris and in the area. again, this is perhaps -- this is one of the cells that we think of that has perhaps been reawakened. but it's really just a collection of individuals who are disaffected, who are angry, who are armed, who have gone in some cases, for some training and who are, as we saw yesterday, capable of creating mayhem and just utter horror in the streets of the city. so again, france is well aware

of this endemic problem with the threat of terrorism, but has been brought into incredibly broad relief in the incidents over the past couple of days. authorities are really right to get to the bottom of this and figure out what further threat remains and what to do about it. >> yeah. >> and interestingly, the time ryan of these two sieges they believe they were connected. they know that these three terrorists knew each other. but another facet of that is that this woman, hayat boumediene, she allegedly made some 500 phone calls and texts to a woman described as the wife of one of the kouachi brothers i believe it was said. i mean has that been definitively proven that there was a connection, that she may have been like a go-between? >> reporter: well there's not necessarily a go-between and it's not necessarily been proven or revealed exactly what the extent of the connection is but these are people who know each other. these are people who live in the same community. they have relations that go back

many, many years. one of the kouachi brothers and the other suspect were in prison together, which is where we believe they met and may have been radicalized or may have certainly, formed an association. so it's best to think of these individuals as very connected. they know each other. and they know other people. and authorities knew them and in recent days authorities have revealed that they have been really keeping under surveillance dozens of others who are from the same communities, who are related to these individuals, and who are capable, perhaps, of the same kind of violence. so this is really an ongoing threat that again, exploded exploded yesterday over the past couple of days yesterday and over the past couple of days. but the question is who else is out there and what are they capable of and will something else happen? >> absolutely. ron allen, thank you very much for the live report from paris. i know we'll be speaking with you again today. and as ron was saying the key word there is "ongoing."

certainly, the sieges in france are over but this morning, there remains more questions than answers. how did the charlie hebdo shooters get out of paris? where is hayat boumediene? and how did she escape the grocery store? and is there a threat of copy cat attacks? joining me now, retired special agent in charge and hostage negotiator, jim cavenaugh and an msnbc analyst. jim, are you concerned about copy cat attacks or other sleeper cells taking this moment to come forward? >> i am alex good morning. i think that's a real possibility, not only in france but i think worldwide. you know the terrorists have always benefited from a thing called the propaganda of the deed. you know they use that in suicide bombings. you know we would all think, you know, in looking at it someone puts a bomb on themselves and blows themselves up, who would want to do that. but they leverage that to recruit more people. they recruit more people through the propaganda of the deed.

and then someone can copy the behavior. so not only in france certainly there, but worldwide as well. >> yeah. look hindsight is always 20/20, but do you see it as a failure of policing that the two brothers were able to get out of paris after the initial shooting at the magazine? >> well not really. well, let me say, there is some problems there, i think. one of the things is in any big city center certainly, all modern police forces have to be able to put a police rifle team quickly, at any part in the downtown area of the city within minutes. these guys had way too much time to get away and a patrolman on a bicycle with a handgun is not going to be able to stop two or more people that have rifles. so it's imperative that the world's, especially major city policing, where we know the threat is there, has to be able to do that. you don't have time to call members of the s.w.a.t. team in or the tactical team in.

you have to have that police rifle team. many departments have it but it wasn't effectively deployed in paris after the charlie hebdo massacre. >> and hayat boumediene, she, of course, remains at large today. there is some speculation that she may have escaped the grocery store as posing as a hostage. in all the chaos of that moment jim, what do you think could have been done to stop her? >> right, well it's not unpress didn't dented that hostage takers can slip out disguised as a hostage, maybe even change their clothes. she could have been sent in early, to reconnoiter the place. so the shoppers wouldn't even know, necessarily, who she was. so she could have been in there. also, your on the about her texting and communicating, you know, i think that could be a real part of the operation. you know acting as a radio man,

if you will. and maybe, you know, females on the other side with the brother. so you know call the brothers and tell them this text the brothers and tell them that. i think that very well could be. >> and do you think that that may have led to the simultaneous raids on both the printing job and the grocery store? >> yes, yes. because what happened at the printing shop was, the brothers came out. so once they're separated from any hostage or believed hostage that's in there, you know the tactical team is going to engage them. whether or not they even engage the tactical team. if they came out front, you couldn't let them go back in if you thought there was one hostage in there. because you might not ever get another chance to engage them. and if you couldn't be certain that the people at the grocery store would not see this on the media or get texts on this on their cell phones, then you would have to move there as well, and, you know, get in and engage them.

and apparently he did engage the tactical officers when he entered, and maybe wanted to detonate some explosives he department get to, so the operation was successful. >> jim, i'll have you back later in the hour we'll talk about the kinds of explosives and ammunition they used the weaponry, pretty extraordinary. thanks so much. the world, of course unites on this as france continues to recover from the worst attack on their soil in decades. u.s. attorney general eric holder and others head to france sunday to attend a unity rally and what president obama had to say about this week's assault, next. make a lot of purchases for my business. and i get a lot in return with ink plus from chase. like 50,000 bonus points when i spent $5,000 in the first 3 months after i opened my account. and i earn 5 times the rewards on internet, phone services and at office supply stores. with ink plus i can choose how to redeem my points. travel, gift cards even cash back. and my rewards points won't expire. so you can make owning a business

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return to normal after this week's devastating terror attacks. two raids yesterday at an office complex north of paris and a downtown kosher market effectively ended the siege killing three of the four suspected terrorists. 17 french citizens were killed in the attacks which began on wednesday. president obama has been in close contact with french officials dealing with this terrorist attack. and in his speech yesterday in tennessee, the president reiterated the u.s.' support for france as they deal with this tragedy. >> i want the people of france to know that the united states stands with you today, stands with you tomorrow. our thoughts and prayers are with the families who have been directly impacted. we grieve with you. we fight alongside you to uphold our values the values that we share, universal values that bind us together as friends and as allies.

>> the president said he directed u.s. law enforcement and counterintelligence operations to provide whatever support the french government needs. and back in paris now, we're joined for the latest on the investigation by nbc's cassandra bene benegrad. i know you've been talking with people in paris today. what are you hearing about their main concerns? >> reporter: people in paris are still in shock, to tell you the truth. this has been the bloodiest three days on french soil in decades. and as you can probably see behind me, people are gathering here to pay their respects to the victims and show solidarity but they're also wondering what might come next. there's still a suspect on the loose, and some people are telling me that they fear that more attacks are imminent. >> cassandra, tell me about the place where you are standing? what monument is behind you? >> this has been a rallying point for people over the last several days. there have been several vigils and marches originating from

here and it's plastered with posters and photos and candles and tributes to the victims who were killed in the initial attack on the offices of charlie hebdo. >> and cassandra, with regard to the hunt for the fugitive suspect, this hayat boumediene a 26-year-old, any details being released by police on where they're looking or any kind of information like that? >> reporter: like much of the investigation over the past several days they're really keeping the details quite close to the vest. but they have issued a photo of her and are asking anyone with information to come forward. at the moment they're just doing everything they can to reassure the french public that extra security measures are in place to protect them and ensure that this won't happen again. >> all right. nbc's cassandra vinograd from paris, thank you so much for that. there will be an extraordinary rally there tomorrow, all in unity and support of all those parisians and all they have suffered, attended by leaders

throughout the european union and attorney general eric holder will be sent over, representing the united states. joining me now from paris is ronan taffaro. i know you just arrived there in paris, but give me a sense of the feeling. even going through the airport, was there extended security there, ronan? >> reporter: it is of course much more tense here. it's a grim day, but a quiet one. you can see behind me it's calm now. the site of so many demonstrations is now sort of eerie. people are going about their weekends, but, of course as cassandra noted, it's ominous here, people are afraid. you mentioned, eric holder is on his way to france. there's also more activity on the government levitt happening. a ministerial meeting just this morning about the security concerns and we're hearing from president holland that those security concerns are higher than ever after these sieges. >> and you talk about the place where you are, where this rally will be held tomorrow with world leaders there. how much of a security presence is expected? i mean for people who want to

even attend that? >> reporter: well alex it's hundreds of thousands of people expected. as you mentioned, world leaders. we've seen tweets from at least five major world leaders, including david cameron, saying they're going to come. so of course a big topic of discussion is how do you secure that kind of a rally? we're going to hear more from french authorities this afternoon about exactly what the security measures are and we'll be keeping tabs on that. one thing that's also causing some rifts is who's not invited to the big unity rally on sunday. that includes some far-right french political leadership. and people are concerned that that could cause more unrest going into this. a lot still to unfold here alex. >> yeah, interesting. you know one thing you do pretty consistently on ronan farrow daily is talk to us about social media. talk to us about the role that social media has played ronan? >> reporter: it's been a mourning place, first and foremost, and a place people

have come together. we've all been following the rallying cry from around the world, so many joining in from so many nationalities and walks of life. more than 5 million people tweeting under that hashtag. over yesterday at the peak of this, we saw 6,500 tweets per minute under that hashtag. that has become an iconic social media cry, actually-to- one of the most popular we have ever seen. and then another tweet translates to i am jewish people putting that out there in solidarity. this is being seen as an attack on the jewish people regarding that grocery store. >> reporter: the jewish people and i woulds a s aalso point out muslims. just the word muslims has trended several times through these sinlgeges and that's been

used as for what you would expect and also to push back and say, i am a muslim and i don't endorse this or to say, i stand with muslims around the world. >> ronan, appreciate you reporting live for us from paris. thanks ronan. ahead, much more on this week's devastating attacks in and around paris, as authorities try to piece together just how this happened and the likelihood of it happening again. and bad news for david petraeus. why the retired four-star general may now be facing felony charges.

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and we will take you to the sue market in paris where one of those two sieges ended in just a moment. france's interior minister is calling for extreme vigilance after the attacks that left three dead. more on that shortly. and a surprising development in washington today. retired four-star general and ousted cia director david petraeus could be facing felony charges. the fbi and justice department have both recommended that petraeus be charged for leaking classified information to his mistress paula broadwell. the decision to go forward now rests with attorney general eric holder. and joining me now, retired army colonel, jack jacobs medal of honor recipient, and msnbc military analyst. colonel jack welcome to you. what would this mean for the military if the generation's perhaps most eillustrious leader ends up in federal prison?

>> i think it's a long shot. the information has been out there for a long long time and the feds have been reluctant to or dragging their feet or not very aggressive in bringing charges. i think the administration has been agonizing over whether to do it or not, precisely because of what you say. very well-respected, highly respected military leader. so i think it's an uphill battle for them to make a decision to go ahead and do that. >> and with regard to petraeus' lawyer, colonel, he insists that he did nothing wrong legally, and "the new york times" reports that he has told prosecutors that he has no interest in a plea deal. now, you know him, how do you think he would responsibled to possible charges? >> i think he would fight aggressively. he'll put the onus on the federal government to prove what they say and it might be tough for them to do it. if it's a really serious charge they'll have to be able to prove intent and intent is a very very difficult thing to prove in this particular case. could be mishandling classified information. i'm reminded actually of a cia

director, john deutsche under clinton, who also mishandled classified information and nothing ever happened in that case. i think it's going to be a tough one for the government. >> yeah, but even regarding the obama administration, i mean this administration has been unprecedented in its campaign against leaks. we have seen more indictments than all other administrations combined. i mean there's a major debate right now within the military over the bin laden raid leaks. do you think they might have to bring charges here to appear unbiased? i mean no matter how decorated the accused may be? >> that's a very interesting question and you're quite right. this administration has been very aggressive about that. a lot of the leaks you're talking about, there was intent. i think the problem for the administration is this. they've waited a long time to do something. if they do it in and out, you're going to have this headline-grabbing circus show trial in the last semester of obama's administration. i don't think the administration wants to end on that note. and that's one of the things

that's probably going to militate against it. i think they'll do it anyway but i think they're reallying a nigz nizing over it. >> how do you think david petraeus' reputation stands right now within the military community? >> still very very high. he's known far and wide as one of the most intelligent, most -- cleverest cleverest, most tactical and strategic thinkers of his generation. his problems and foibles and personal problems notwithstanding, he's still held in extremely high regard in military circles. >> we'll talk to you more next hour about this. >> see you then. in other news now, progress in the search for that air asia flight. the tail section has been hoisted out of the sea, but it's not yet known whether the cockpit voice recorders are still inside the tail or whether they might have been lost on impact. the tail was found on the seabed

two weeks after the crash. authorities have released a sketch of a man they believe detonated an explosive near the colorado springs chapter of the naacp. it's of a bald white man with sunglasses. the fbi is offering a $10,000 reward for information on tuesday's explosion, which caused some minor damages and fortunately, no injuries. health officials say a total of 19 people who visited disney theme parks have now become ill with the measles. the california department of public health says all patients visited disneyland or disney california adventure between december 14th and december 20th. most of the cases remain in california though two are in utah and one is in colorado. for the first time in 25 years, california's golden gate bridge is closed to traffic. it was shut down friday at midnight so crews there can install some movable barriers to prevent head-on collisions. the 52-hour closure this weekend

will be the longest in the bridge's history. coming up more on the terror attacks in paris as investigators hunt for the female accomplice on the run. ♪ with the incredible fuel efficiency of 38 miles-per-gallon highway you can feel like royalty in the nissan altima. now, get great offers on the 38 mpg highway nissan altima. nissan innovation that excites.

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35 past as we welcome you back to "weekends with alex witt." the shooting rampage that terrorized the french capital is over. one terrorist is still being sought. the attacks began wednesday at the office of the newspaper charlie hebdo. and late friday french police raided a print factory where those two suspects in wednesday's shootings were held up. those two were killed in the gun battle with police. meanwhile, an associate of the suspects took several hostages at a shop in paris. now french authorities are searching for this woman, suspected of being the supermarket gunman's accomplice. and the main synagogue in parises will remain closed today. it is the first time the temple has been closed on the jewish sabbath since world war ii. more than a dozen hostages were holed up in that downtown supermarket friday waiting for

help to arrive. nbc's lester holt reports on the raid that ended the market siege. >> reporter: with explosions and rapid gunfire, it was over. a dramatic bloody end to the day's second hostage drama, captured live on french tv. 15 people held hostage by a lone gunman inside a kosher market led to safety. inside, four others were dead. the shooter, himself, also killed. french president hollande called it a terrifying anti-semitic act. it began around midday with a report of gunfire at a kosher market in eastern paris and hostages taken. police confirm the gunman amedy coulibaly was an associate of the other two. coulibaly spoke by phone with a

french journalist. we only coordinated at the start, he said. when they started charlie hebdo, i started with police. as security forces tried to negotiate a peaceful end, many shops in the historically jewish district across town closed their doors early, all of paris was extremely tense today. police and citizens on edge. there was a report of a shooter in the subway. false, it turned out. near the supermarket standoff testy cops evacuated streets. and this. >> we just happened upon this scene, driving on this road a few hundred meters from the site of the hostage taking. and everywhere we look suddenly, police were out with guns, crouched over this vehicle. >> reporter: a reported bank robber another false alarm. >> everyone seems on edge. what is it like living in paris right now? >> we don't know. it's so unreal to us. >> reporter: then, just as the sun was setting, the assault, bringing this siege to an end.

but police are still trying to account for this woman, 26-year-old hayat boumediene thought to be an accomplice of amedy coulibaly. >> that was nbc's lester holt in paris. well nbc's cassandra vinograd joins us from paris once again this morning with the very latest. cassandra, i was listening to lester's report and he talked to people who said they are seeming -- the whole situation is unreal for them. the city is on edge. is that the sense that you get from people that you've spoken as they come to the place de la republique behind you to pay their respects? >> reporter: absolutely, alex. people are really still trying to process what went on here. i spoke to one young woman earlier who said she's 20 years old, she's lived in france her whole life and she's never seen anything like this. and like many of the other people i spoke to she's scared that this is really just the beginning. that these three gunmen who were killed here in france yesterday were part of another cell directed by even more powerful

men. people are in mourning but they're also very very scared. the tension is really palpable here. >> yeah. how much do you think that has to do with the manhunt for this 26-year-old hayat boumediene the one who's the accomplice they said maybe even a common law wife. she had lived with the terrorist who took those hostages there in the kosher supermarket. is that something that people are well aware of? is that what you think they're frightened of? >> reporter: absolutely. the french police put her photo out yesterday, along with the suspect who was gunned down in the supermarket, the man who took hostages yesterday. and they said that she's believed to be armed and dangerous. so muches yesterday's siege has ended, there's still an ongoing manhunt here in france, or a womanhunt, to be clear. so people are very nervous that she could be dangerous. we just actually spoke to the former head judge for counterterrorism in france and he said something quite interesting, i think that she's the widow of a martyr, which means that she's even more

dangerous now, because she wants to follow in her husband's footsteps. >> absolutely. and that is a point that has been made by those who study terrorists and their activity. before i let you go there, with regard to tomorrow and this giant rally that's going to be held behind you, how much do you think parisians are aware that the entire world has been watching this and that news broadcasts for around the world were going live and following everything unfolding, that the headlines and papers from around the world all have to do with what happened there. >> reporter: i think they're very aware, but also very sad and uncomfortable with it. when we tell people that we're from nbc news they say, you came here for this? that was the initial response on wednesday when this first started, when the first attack took place. but now there are media from all over the world, and i think they know, as we've seen on twitter, from world leaders, there's been really an outpouring of support from around the world. and i think the parisians are

very grateful for that and also very aware that this is bigger. >> nbc's cassandra vinograd there at the place de la republique, thank you very much. new information now, the prosecutor telling nbc news since the charlie hebdo attacks, there have been eight counterterrorism raids in that city and 16 people have been arrested for questioning, 5 of which remain in custody. u.s. counterterrorism officials say at least one of the charlie hebdo attackers, that said kouachi received train on the ground in yemen from al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, aqap long considered the most dangerous branch of the terrorist network. joining me again, jack jacobs. colonel jack, we have this cherif kouachi claiming that the attack was financed and coordinated directly by anwar al awlaki, who was of course killed by a u.s. drone strike back in 2011. does it seem realistic that they

have been lying in wait for the last three, four years? >> no it doesn't. there is some evidence to indicate that said actually met with al awlaki but that was some time ago, and it's unlikely they would sit around for four years. this was -- they clearly had military training but this was not a complicated, sophisticated operation. you're talking about entering a building. there had to be some inside information, otherwise they wouldn't know where to go inside the building for the meeting. they could not have otherwise known that the two people who were their targets were actually there in that room. but aside from that it was not much more sophisticated. didn't require a great deal of planning, and so it's unlikely that they had waited that long after being ordered to go do it. >> aqap regardless their involvement here that entity where do you rate the threat

from them? >> we in the united states rate them extremely highly. it's been a major focus for us for a long time. we've launched i think, more than 100 drone attacks. that's one of our focus, aqap. we're very much concerned about it. it's been growing. the area where it operates is lawless, so we don't have a great deal of assistance on the ground. and they're extremely dangerous, both in the region and obviously, elsewhere. no, no it's very high on our list. >> and the training of the kouachi brothers potentially there in yemen for several months according to u.s. officials, what does that look like, that training? >> probably looked a lot like basic training. maybe four to eight weeks of training in small arms the use of automatic weapons, hand grenades, small unit tactics. you could tell that they had had some training by the way they

held their weapons. usually when someone has an automatic weapon or a weapon of any kind hasn't had any training they shoot from the hip, shoot wildly so on. when you look at the videos here and the photographs, you'll see they held the weapons high against their shoulders and against their cheeks with aimed fire. that's the mark of somebody who's been trained in small unit tactics and weapons. >> okay colonel jack jacobs we'll have more from you next hour. >> see you then. the weapons of the charlie hebdo attackers, how did they manage to obtain that deadly firepower? that's next. your mom's got your back. your friends have your back. your dog's definitely got your back. but who's got your back when you need legal help? we do. we're legalzoom, and over the last 10 years we've helped millions of people protect their families and run their businesses. we have the right people on-hand to answer your questions, backed by a trusted network of attorneys. so visit us today for legal help

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49 past the hour with this breaking news. france's interior minister is calling for extreme vigilance today after three days of deadly attacks by terrorists. the interior minister held an emergency security meeting this morning and said the french government is deploying hundreds of troops in addition to thousands of police and other security forces following the attacks. nbc's steve handelsman has more on how it all unfolded and what this could mean for safety here in the u.s. >> reporter: it was a coordinated assault and it worked. this was the supermarket in paris. four hostages died all of them killed say police by terrorist amedy coulibaly at a printing plant outside paris were the kouachi brothers accused of

wednesday's newspaper massacre. they were surrounded by police who said the brothers were part of a terror sell with hayat boumediene and cow balulibaly. suspects went in after coulibaly, came the assault on the kouachis, who died in a hail of bullets. >> i want the people of france to know that the united states stands with you today. >> reporter: president obama watched from knoxville. >> we're hopeful that the immediate threat is now resolved. >> reporter: officials said said kouachi got military training from al qaeda of yemen, seen as the biggest threat to the u.s. >> much more dangerous than isis, because isis has never plotted, so far, attacks against the homeland. >> reporter: but despite the boston marathon bombing, most experts agree there's less of a threat here thanks to our islamic community, says american manal omar. >> a lot of the government employees are actually muslims who after 9/11 wanted to take a

more interactive role in solving the problems. >> reporter: but u.s. officials still fear copy cat attacks now, like the french do in that nervous nation. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. >> joining me now on the phone from paris is a former msnbc colleague of mine and american journalist, dana kennedy. dana, with a good morning to you, talk about the mood in paris right now. >> well it's a real relief to be here now, because yesterday, alex, it was like detroit, except it was paris. there were helicopters everywhere and nobody was taking the subway. a line of taxis were stretched for miles, people were not taking the subway and they just wanted to get home. today it's calm but people are still really really jumpy. and it's sad, at the same time, i was talking to a friend who was of north african decent a professor here in paris. and he said france has seen a lot worse, paris has seen a lot worse. people will get through this. and i heard just now about the

copy cat killing possibility. people don't seem to be as worried about that. they seem to think it's over for now, which i think is good news. >> absolutely. there's that huge rally tomorrow. i mean there are thousands upon thousands expected there, world leaders gathered. we certainly know that french security and police are concerned about any potential future attacks. do you get a sense that people are planning to attend this rally that starts at the place de la republique and go there you know, a secure feeling or are they worried about it? >> reporter: you know, alex there isn't one person i've spoken to in paris. i know a lot of people who will not be there tomorrow. you know from the moment this happened on wednesday night, as you know the people were in the streets, thousands of people all over france as well as paris, they feel total solidarity with the people who died and i think there'll be a massive, massive showing tomorrow. and you know people are saying how much they appreciate the

world, especially the united states, and obama's speech yesterday, the world. it's been enormous, an enormous comfort to them much the same way americans felt after 9/11 when the world gave their sympathy to them. so limon did call it france's 9/11, even though it's on a much smaller scale than what happened in new york. but you can't underestimate the trauma. >> and you mentioned the friend with whom you spoke of north african decent. the feeling within the muslim community overall, is there a sense of shame of what these three did? i mean it's very torn. i mean paris has seen a lot of friction between many resident muslims there, algerians in particular, through different pockets of the city. >> i think the average muslim who has nothing to do is radicalized, is just sick of trying to say there's a difference between us and them.

it's like trying to say that ted bundy is a typical american. i think they're hopeful for the future. there are between 4 and 6 million muslims in france this is the largest muslim community in europe. and they're strong and they're solid. and you know all of them most of them are not like these people. in fact, after living here for ten years, it's people of north african decent that i actually see are most like americans. they're much friendlier than the old school french. they're great people they're my friends. they're not like these fanatics at all. >> they're your friends there and i've got plenty of friends here in the united states as well. and it's very difficult for them as you say, so many of them to be painted with t same brush there. dana kennedy, thank you so much. joining me now, retired atf special agent in charge and hostage negotiator jim calve cavanaugh cavanaugh, and msnbc analyst. let's talk about the weapons. these shooters were carrying

ak-47 assault rifles certainly illegal in france. despite that how easy is it for someone to get their hands on one? >> it's real easy alex if you have contacts like these guys clearly did from their history in the conflict zone. so they have contacts in iraq. they were funneling fighters to iraq. they've been involved in this movement for over ten years. look, you only have to cross one border turkey to get to the conflict zone now, between syria and turkey. there's no other bordered checks. so literally, you could load the truck of one car with some kalashnikovs ammunition, hand grenades, rocket-propelled grenades, and drive it through any european city. you're not going to go through a border checkpoint. so for people who have contacts direct contacts in war zones, it's not hard. >> yeah. you heard dana kennedy talking about the comparisons to 9/11 that are happening right now. and this is being called france's 9/11. for all the other ways that 9/11 changed life here in the u.s.

jim, it certainly led to the massive overhauls in civilian police forces both the federal and the local. do you expect that to happen in france too? >> yeah i think france is going to be in a very changing environment to deal with this on many fronts. first of all the security at places that are under threat like the newspaper, charlie hebdo. that security was woefully inadequate, based on the threat. you know, a security door that you punched in a code and one officer with a sidearm? based on the level of threat from you know, some of the world's worst killers, over a number of years, i mean it was clearly inadequate. so they're going to have to look at that. secondly, the police response like we talked putting a rifle team there, certainly within ten minutes, maybe you'd be able to stop these guys, might have saved the police woman from being killed might have saved the people in the grocery to being killed. so that response. also, their relationship with the greater muslim community. you know if they're going to have these -- there's been

attacks on mosques and fire bombings and so forth, they've got to get a grip on their society, you know and realize that the terrorist naserrrative, is that they are greater islam. don't fall into that. that's what they want to write. and the society has to understand that. the society has to understand that's the terrorist narrative. don't buy it. because that's not true. and just like any religion there's terrorists. look, the ku klux klan has always called themselves the christian knights. they burn the cross, they portray themselves as christians. but we in the west we know they're not christians. we know they have no resemblance to a christian. we don't even think about it. but when we look at another world like the muslim world, we think, oh, they're all like that. that would be the muslims saying, that all christians -- >> you're talking about the dana kennedy was talking about, that

people hate being painted with the is asame brush. jim cavanaugh, thanks so much. leaders in france meet today to discuss what measures can be taken to prevent new attacks. and the very latest from paris at the top of the hour. discover card. hey, i heard you guys can help me with frog protection? yeah, we help with fraud protection. we monitor every purchase every day and alert you if anything looks unusual. wow! you're really looking out for us. we are. and if there are unauthorized purchases on your discover card, you're never held responsible. just to be clear you are saying "frog protection" right? yeah, fraud protection. frog protection. fraud protection. frog. fraud. fro-g. frau-d. i think we're on the same page. we're totally on the same page. at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. fraud protection. get it at discover.com out of 42 vehicles...

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