everybody wants so badly to understand what has just happened and unfortunately what may still be under way. what may not be over. it is now just coming up on 9:00 p.m. on the east coast. paris of course is six hours ahead of the u.s. east coast. and so that means it's now 3:00 a.m. in paris. a way to sort of reset. first i'm going to give you the bottom line in terms of what we know and then i'm going to tell you what we know has happened over the course of this evening. the bottom line is this. this is a series of apparently coordinated attacks that hit paris tonight. we have an unconfirmed estimated death toll of approximately 120 killed, although that number may rise or fall as we get more confirmed information from french authorities over the course of the night. these were multiple attacks using bombs and guns and possibly grenades as well. there's also pretty well confirmed although at this point nothing definitively confirmed about the possible use of at

least one suicide bomb. now, the reason that is relevant here in terms of understanding the magnitude of this and the novelty of what just happened here is if in fact there was a suicide bomb among these attackers it would appear to mark the first time that france has ever been hit by suicide bombing. even though as a country france is no stranger to terrorist attacks, either in their recent history or in their more distant history. the last part of the bottom line tonight is this. and it's scary to say. but we do not know if this is over. we don't know if any of the attackers from tonight's attacks is still at large. nor do we know if there are any further attacks planned as part of this assault tonight. this wasn't one incident. it was a coordinated series of events that happened in very tight sequence. are there more events that are planned as part of this individual attack that are slightly further along in the sequence? we don't know. and so that's the bottom line. very high estimated death toll.

120 people killed is the estimate at this point. also multiple tactics and weapons used including the possibility of suicide bombers for the first time ever in france's history. and again the scary possibility that the attack may not be over and some of the attackers may still be at large. that's what we know in terms of the bottom line. here's what we know in terms of what has happened. again, it is just after 3:00 a.m. local time. it was right around 9:30 p.m. local time when it started. apparently, the start of the attack were the bombs set off just outside the showpiece national stadium in paris, the stade de france. that stadium has a capacity of 80,000. it was packed tonight for an international soccer match between france and germany. one of those in attendance was france's president, francois hollande. and even though the explosion went off outside and not inside the stadium, we know from footage taken during the soccer match that at least one explosion could be heard while the game was played.

[ explosion ] that was roughly 9:30 p.m. local time. obviously, during that big international soccer match before a packed stadium. that was 9:30 p.m. local time. that means it was about 3:30 this afternoon on the east coast of the united states. now, what i'm going to tell you here in terms of the chronology of what happens next, this exact chronology may be revised as we learn more. but the best we understand now is that very shortly after at tack sta the attack started at the stadium with what may not have been just one, may have been two or three bombs, two or three explosions, one, one of which is believed to be a suicide bomber, our best understanding is that within a few minutes of that attack starting outside the

stadium in the paris suburbs, about five miles away in central paris, the second phase of the attack began. again, this was within moments of those explosions at the stadium. there are multiple reports that a gunman or more likely gunmen armed with automatic ak-47 style rifles made an attack on restaurants and/or cafes in central paris. there have been mixed reports as to how many restaurants or cafes were attacked. a lot of different news sources have many different lists about how many different sites there were for these attacks by gunmen with rifles in central paris. but at this point in the assault even though there are different accounts of how many cafes or restaurants were attacked it should be noted that all of the reports of those attacks by gunmen with clacknikoff style rifles, all those reports do come from the same fairly small area in paris. bustling hip neighborhood in paris. it was a warm night in paris.

this is an area crammed with cafes and restaurants including a lot of them with outside tables. but again, reports suggest it may have been multiple gunmen unleashing this part of the attack. what appears to have been a second part of the attack just moments after those explosions rocked the stadium about five miles away in the paris suburbs. that close coordination and the distance between the two attacks, that is part of why this is being seen not just as a coordinated attack but as a fairly sophisticated coordinated attack. and then around 10:15 p.m. local time, about 45 minutes after it all started, we learned about what is believed to be the deadliest part of these attacks, which took place at the bataclan concert hall, which is a music venue that's not actually all that far from the restaurant and cafe attacks. i should also mention this may or may not prove to be relevant in the end but for reference this music venue that was attacked is only about 500 meters from the site of the

"charlie hebdo" massacre in paris in january. at the bataclan concert hall several hundred people at least were attending a sold-out concert by a california band called the eagles of death metal. i don't have this exactly. i understand that the capacity of that theater is 1,000, possibly more than 1,000 and it was considered to be a sold-out show. we expect at least several hundred people were in. our reports from inside that venue were varied and scary. but it is reported that there were multiple attackers inside that music venue armed with guns who started killing people inside that venue and then took many hostages. it is reported that they had and used explosives of some kind in that venue in addition to shooting people with rifles. just after midnight local time. so this went on for about two hours, that we knew that siege was under way with those multiple attackers at that venue and those hundreds of people trapped inside. about two hours into that french

special forces launched an assault on that theater to free the hostages. speaking at the site of the attack shortly thereafter, french president francois hollande said some of the attackers were killed. late tonight there have been some further unconfirmed reports that suggested that the attackers at that music venue in addition to having guns may also themselves have been equipped as suicide bombers and they may have used suicide belts or vests to kill themselves at the end of that siege. it is at that venue, at the bataclan music hall from which we are expecting the bulk of the death toll. and the estimated death toll right now is considered to be approximately 120 people. the estimate is that approximately 100 of that number will be people who died at that music venue. right now the whole nation of france remains in a state of emergency, which was declared live on television while the siege was still under way by the french president. the french president also announced that the country's borders have been closed.

although it's not totally clear what that means at this point. but at one point tonight there were arriving planes at charles de gaulle airport being held on the tarmac there. there have been varying reports since then then about what the closing of the borders means and what exactly flans is doing to stop peeve leaving or coming into the country. no group has taken responsibility for the attack. no one has described anything that be described as a warning before this event took place. this is a very fluid situation. details are still coming to light by the minute. i want to go now to a witness. i'm jound now on the phone by jonathan johnson. jonathan johnson is an espn reporter. he was at the stadium tonight when the explosions went off nearby and they could be heard inside the venue. jonathan, thank you very much for being with us tonight. i'm glad to have you here. >> no problem. thanks for having me on. >> can you describe where you were when this happened and what happened when threes explosions were heard inside the venue?

>> i was in the press area, which is roughly the opposite side of the stadium to where the attack was reported to have taken place. early on in the game there was a bang that was very audible in the stadium. watching football in paris, being a regular to go watch paris st. germain at paris's big club football team, hearing that sound normally during a game is not something to be alarmed at. it's quite a regular occurrence. however, it's never as loud as it was this evening. and that first bang was then followed up relatively quickly by a second and there was a third one before halftime. after the second one it became obvious that this wasn't just a regular kind of firecracker noise, this is something a

little more serious. and considering that there was a bomb threat made on the germany national team hotel earlier in the day, people already were starting to get a little bit edgy. and this is before halftime. now, roundabout halftime that's when the reports started to filter through. that there had been an attack at stade de france. and over halftime reports started to come through with more details. first of all, we were led to believe that it was an explosion at a brasserie. then grenades were mentioned, a mail bomb was mentioned, and eventually a suicide attack was also mentioned. and during the halftime break that's when the news about what was going on elsewhere in paris also then started to filter through to us. the second half got under way, and it was a very eerie atmosphere because a lot of us in the press knew what was going on. some people in the stadium, the spectators, did know about it. some didn't return to their seats for the second half.

some did. there were other people who had no idea what was going on at the time. france were winning 1-0 at halftime, scored a second goal before the end of the game to win 2-0. and when their second goal went in there were still people cheering very vociferously. so it was clear they weren't aware of what was going on elsewhere in paris at that time. it was only after the match when the announcement was made over the system at the stadium, that people started to suspect that maybe something was, you know, not quite right outside of the stadium because although certain areas of the stadium were allowed to leave immediately after the match there were some areas where people had to stay behind, and that's when you started to see pictures of the people who stood on the pitch at stade de france. they had to stay there for the best part of an hour. they were eventually allowed to leave the stadium, but when i left the stadium around half an hour ago the germany national team still hadn't left. as i understood it, the french

team had. but it was -- there was a real sense of disbelief at stade de france with the people who had gone to watch the match tonight. >> jonathan, in terms of the security situation in the stadium, i know the french president was among the many thousands of people there who were watching. was there increased security because of that? what sort of security did you have to go through to get in tonight? >> well, there was a lot of security to begin with because as i mentioned earlier there was already the bomb threat made on the germany national team hotel. security was heightened prematch. and then after the event, as it was unfolding, more and more security became visible inside the stadium. i should add as well about president hollande, i am led to believe that after the second explosion, which was

approximately 20 minutes into the match, he'd been evacuated from the stadium. like i said, it was sort of roundabout halftime, midway through the match, that we really began to start discovering the extent of the attack on stade de france. but it wasn't until much after that game had finished that we really discovered exactly, you know, how atrocious this attack on paris had been because of what happened. >> jonathan johnson, espn reporter who was at the stade de france when the explosion went off nearby, which was apparently the start of this multipronged attack. thanks for helping us understand what i saw tonight. i appreciate it, jonathan. thank you. one of the sort of remarkable moments tonight, and this happens when attacks aren't a single incident but they sprawl out over time and you don't know whether they're over, is that tonight while things were still under way we heard a live statement from president obama.

during president obama's remarks he had to tell us that he had not done what -- he was not going to announce what presidents usually announce at that point, which is that they have spoken one to one with the leader of another country that has had a tragedy befall them. president obama had to explain tonight that he was giving his own remarks but he had not spoken to president francois hollande because the events were still unfolding in france and he understood the french president was quite busy dealing with the still ongoing crisis. this was still really quite in the middle of it tonight when we heard from president obama. >> 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. we're going to do whatever it takes to work with the french people and with nations around the world to bring these terrorists to justice and to go after any terrorist networks that go after our people. >> president obama speaking arler tonight while events were still under way. we are getting some late-breaking news according to our producer in paris. the band that was playing at the music venue tonight where it's believed most of the people who died tonight were killed, that band, california band called eagles of death metal, there's been some conflicting information tonight about whether or not the band themselves were among the victims of tonight's event. per nbc's producer and nbc she says, "i managed to pass police barriers and made it to a corner bar where all the survivors of the music venue shooting were taken to." apparently, our producer has spoken with a sound engineer and

with the steves -- excuse me, with the band's manager. and there is news, at least that we're getting through our producer in nbc tonight, that one member of this band, which again is a band based in california, has been killed. one band member died tonight in this attack. again, that's very preliminary information we're getting from our producer in paris. we'll update you more on that as we learn more. i want to go now to washington, to pete williams, nbc news justice correspondent. pete, thanks very much for joining us. what can you tell us about what u.s. officials are able to either confirm or advance in terms of what we understand tonight? >> reporter: well, they know very little about the nature of the attack, who's responsible for it. the fbi is going to shore up its legal attache office in paris. that's what the fbi has in many places around the world. but of course this will be a french investigation. the fbi will be there to help. it's anticipated as the fbi rolls through the next several hours here one thing the

authorities will do is recover compute computers, cell phones, any communication device that's were used by the people responsible for these attacks. what authorities will try to do is exploit those as quickly as they can, look for connections, who is calling who, see who was on that phone tree, step back a couple of steps from that, see if there were any contacts with anybody in the u.s. and that's where the fbi says it can help out. but the officials we talked to say they have no additional information about who was responsible for the attack. in terms of the response here in the u.s., the department of homeland security has said three times tonight that they know of no specific or credible threat. they say they'd adjust the security posture as they deem appropriate. as we often see happens, many police departments decide on their own to increase street patrols. we're seeing this in l.a. the los angeles county police

departments and sheriff's departments are stepping up patrols around public sites, critical sites. new york police were first to do this, saying they were sending people out to crowded areas to provide a visible police presence. and we're hearing from police in new york and washington, d.c. that they sent police units out to anywhere that there were french government facilities to give additional security. we saw something very similar to this after the attacks on the satirical magazine "charlie hebdo." the u.s. capitol police say they've increased the security arou around the capitol complex here. that's the kind of response we've seen in the u.s. i should also note that we've heard from several managers of concert venues or sports arenas here in the u.s., saying they're well aware of this, they're adjusting their security as they think is necessary. and one final point here. some of the flights from new york to paris earlier today after this all started to unfold were somewhat delayed, but we

know of only one flight, that was an american airlines flight from texas, from dallas to paris, was canceled. the others may have been delayed somewhat. but other than that the air traffic seems to be going earlier today as was normally scheduled. >> pete, in terms of decisions about things like flights decisions about whether certain events should go forward, whether certain venues or places sb closed. i should mention that the city of paris has announced that all city amenities will be closed tomorrow, including schools, museums, gymnasiums, pools, food markets. city offices will all be closed in paris. obviously, that's specific to paris. but as u.s. officials try to make some of those same determinations, obviously one of them, the major concerns and the major considerations is whether or not this is over. the "charlie hebdo" attacks took place over a series of days. the mumbai attacks took place over a series of days. even the westgate shopping attacks in nairobi, kenya took

place in the end over several days. is there any american input or perspective on whether this is done tonight? >> reporter: well, no american input on whether -- there's nothing the u.s. can tell the french about what's going on in france because the french are in a better position to know that. >> right. >> but in terms of response here or making decisions like that here, i think the basic feeling here is they have to act on specific intelligence. they do some of the prudent things. but i've heard of no are plans to cancel scheduled concerts for tomorrow or sporting events or anything else. we unfortunately live in a time where there are terror attacks around the world, and this is a western country, a city very close to the u.s. in terms of emotional bonds, paris. until there is some reason they think that the threat is beyond the borders and until they have such information, i don't think you're going to see that sort of

thing here. it seems obvious to do that in paris. they just want to reduce the number of events or places where there are a lot of people gathered. >> pete williams joining us from washington. nbc justice correspondent. pete, thank you very much. it's good to have you with us tonight. >> you bet. we're getting word from the presidential palace in france. there had been this announcement earlier from the french president that france was not only in a state of emergency but that the borders of france would be closed. the presidential palace is now clarifying that, saying the borders are not closed but additional checks are in place, additional protections are in place among all sorts of french border crossings. and of course that involves train, maritime, airports and land crossings. so there are additional restrictions. there are controls on the borders. but the borders are not closed. how you completely close borders in a modern country, especially on short notice, is a logistical riddle at this point.

but the french government is trying to clarify more what the french president meant when he said that france was essentially going to take measures to keep people who are in from leaving and to keep people who are outside the country from coming in. joining us now from washington is laura haim. she's the white house correspondent for the french network canal plus. she's been reporting on this story from washington and has been the source of just incredibly critical information for our broadcast tonight. laura, thank you very much for joining us. we appreciate your time. >> i appreciate being with you, rachel. it's a pleasure. >> can you update us on what we know as the night gets very long tonight? in paris it's after 3:00 a.m. there. so obviously, there are still worries this may continue to be under way but it's now already been a very, very long night. >> it has been a very long night. in terms of what the police people are telling me, they're worried. they're worried that it's not over. they don't know if other people who committed those attacks have

been killed. and they really want to double-check that. that's the first point. the second point is of course they want to know what's happening and who were those people. were they french. and that's going to be an investigation. because as you remember, the people who committed the attacks against "charlie hebdo" were french citizen, kids born in france, raised in france, who were fully radicalized and who decided to become jihadists. and that's a very important moment for the police but also the french population in a very sensitive time in france where the far right is making a lot of progress. and then you have the -- which the people in paris and france are thinking tonight. most of them are still awake. they're completely traumatized in shock. they cannot realize what's going to happen. they told me all over the phone

what is going to happen. we cannot believe the kids have been killed because in the musical you had a lot of young people. it was friday night. they wanted to listen to concert. they wanted to have fun. and they faced death. >> in terms of the first issue that you raised there, the prospect that these attackers may still be at large, that there either may be other people who are waiting to be activated who are part of this initial plan who have not yet participated in any of the attacks tonight in paris or that some of the people who did participate in these bomb and gun attacks in paris may have gotten away, do we expect to hear in an ongoing way from french authorities about any sort of manhunt that's under way or anything else about whether or not this attack is in fact over? >> we don't know. and it's very confusing. all the people i spoke with are telling me we don't know what's going to happen, we don't know who they are and we don't know if there are some people still

at large who are going to try to do something else. and that's the reason why there's a state of emergency in france which has been done by the french president. the french president is saying i want to make sure that people don't come to france but i also want to make sure that people don't leave france. you pointed out it's a very sensitive issue to close a country. we don't know precise because in paris it's more than 2:00 in the morning. we don't know how this law is going to be enforced. again, it's a very sensitive time. you said something, rachel, which is quite interesting. it's the sophistication of the attacks. there were seven attacks. there were two or three suicide attacks outside the stadium of france. it's the first time in the history of france that you have suicide bombers. paris is not the middle east. but tonight with the suicide bombers it's a new page in the french history.

and then right after 15:00 minutes later, you had those horrible attacks against a restaurant. then you had some shootings in a country where to buy a gun is not authorized. and then you have this horrific attack in a musical where you have hundreds of people who are just coming to listen to a band. apparently, according to some witnesses who went to the hospital after who were injured, they said the guys who arrived inside the theater were saying "we're stronger than the french" and apparently one of the guy exploded himself in front of the crowd, injuring and killing with the explosion many other people. again, that was said in the hospital room in the emergency room when i called some people. we -- again, the french people are in shock, and they want to know who did that and what was the reason. >> laura, when you say seven

attacks, seven locations attacked, it has been hard for us to pin down the number of specific places, the number of different places that were attacked. obviously we know about the music hall. obviously we know about the stadium and we know there were other attacks with guns on restaurants and/or cafes. is it your understanding there were five different restaurants or cafes, five different locations that were hit? >> no, it's a good question. and i'm going to make an analogy with new york. because i think it's going to be easier for your viewers to understand. it's like the attacks happened outside new york city, let's say outside the yankee stadium. you had two suicide bombers detonating themselves. we heard three explosions. that's what the people tell me. but we know it was two suicide bombers and probably a gas tank. from the french president was inside the stadium of france. and again, it's like the yankee

stadium during the world series with president obama inside. then simultaneously, 15 minutes after, in the middle of the 10th arrondissement, and it would be a little bit like broadway, on four blocks you have different shootings. you have according to witnesses a car who shot in a big street like a car shooting on broadway. then according to some witnesses a car, and we don't know if it's the same car, went to a restaurant. and again, it will be a restaurant on times square. and the people, very quietly came out of the car, went to the restaurant, killed in cold blood the people who have dinner there. we have witnesses who saw that from the window. and then two blocks away, and again, i'm taking the symbol of broadway, two blocks away from union square you would have an attack against a theater on broadway. and that's what happened in

france. so you had two or three explosions outside the stadium, and then 15 minutes later four or five shootings with the hostage situation in the center of paris. >> in terms of what you said about there being a vehicle involved for the shootings that happened, what you described as the equivalent of new york's broadway, this restaurant attack, do we believe that the attackers left that scene in a vehicle after they arrived in a vehicle, or do we know what happened to them after those shootings? >> i spoke with a woman who witnessed the attack against the restaurant, and it was amazing. she said here's what happened, i saw from my window a car arriving quietly, and people were eating at the restaurant. some people were eating outside on the terrace, and some people were inside. it was a popular restaurant. a small restaurant.

not a fancy restaurant. and she saw two men with no mask on their face coming out of their car, going quietly with automatic weapons to the people who were eating at the roof. she said one of the attacker put the gun on the face of the person who was eating and without any word killed him. she witnessed that. and then after she witnessed the other guy going with the killer inside the restaurant, and they began to fire very quickly. she said there was a lot of noise of guns. and apparently according to the police people it was an automatic gun. the police investigators tell me that it was probably more than 60 to 100 bullets shot at this restaurant. and then they came out and they went back to the car and left. and we don't know if those two people left to go to the theater

and were part of two other -- now we know thans the theater during the hostage situation there were four men. we don't know. we don't know if it's a group, those two men who killed the people in the restaurant left and joined with two others and took hostage and began to kill them. >> and that prospect, that those two in particular and maybe more might still be at large is one of the great unknowns and one of the most worrying things about this still as the night gets very, very long in arparis. laura haim joining us from washington, correspondent for the french network canal plus. laura, you have been absolutely invaluable this evening. thank you. >> thank you. >> there's been several references tonight to the "charlie hebdo" attack. one of those is logistical. this music venue where so many people appear to have lost their

lives this evening is only about a few hundred meters away from the offices of "charlie hebdo." and that attack, it feels like it was much longer ago, but the "charlie hebdo" attack was just earlier this year. that was january of this year, when paris endured another multipronged, prolonged terrorist attack. that attack took three days to resolve. you may remember it started in the middle of the week. is it started on a wednesday morning. two gunmen stormed the offices of the satirical magazine "charlie hebdo." they killed 11 people at the magazine offices. they injured 11 others. then they shot and killed a french police officer outside the magazine offices. critical thing there was that after that initial part of the attack the two gunmen got away. the following day in paris the attacks continued although it wasn't totally clear it was a continuation at the time. the following day in paris after the "charlie hebdo" attack a policewoman was shot and killed and another man was shot and injured in another part of paris. it wasn't totally clear that that was a related attack at the

time, but it was a related attack. later that same day, the second day of the "charlie hebdo" attacks, the two gunmen from the "charlie hebdo" office attack, they robbed a gas station outside paris and after a police chase ensued they holed up in an industrial building. it was the day after, that the third day, that those two basically committed suicide by cop. facing a siege, they came out of that industrial building guns blazing. they injured two police officers before the two brothers were themselves killed by police. but even then it wasn't over because that third day, even as the "charlie hebdo" attackers were killed in that hail of gunfire with police at that industrial building outside paris, even as that was under way, you may remember it still wasn't over because another terrorist who was linked to them took hostages at a kosher supermarket in paris. he ended up killing four of his hoft ngz before police killed

him. among his demands, that the other two attackers be freed. in all the attacks that started with the "charlie hebdo" massacre in january of this year, in all in those attacks 17 people in total were killed, not counting the attackers. but again, part of what is sort of looming large tonight is that with those attacks it did not happen all at once. those two were coordinated and consecutive events. and that of course adds to the terror because you don't know when it's over. joining us now is an msnbc terrorism analyst. he joins us on set in new york. thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me. >> let me ask you about a few different bottom line things, then i want to ask you about some details. bottom line things, as far as i know we've got no claims of responsibility and no warnings ahead of time that something like this might happen. is that right? >> that is indeed right. there has been no official claim of responsibility by any group, al qaeda, isis, or any other radical factions or by any individuals themselves to claim. and there's been certainly no signs, whether in the deep and dark web environments or in the

surface web in social media, that would have shown us any sign or given us any sign such attack would take place today. but let me caveat that. there has been calls for attacks in france, in germany, all across europe, every single country that is allied with the united states in the coalition, target islamic state in iraq and syria. there have been calls for attacks on these countries. so let's caveat it with that, that there's been a long-term call for attacks. >> on that point, though, do you mean that there is in general an ongoing call for attacks against countries that are are participating in this coalition war in iraq and syria? >> indeed. >> or do you mean there has been a specific call for attacks on civilians in paris, there's been a specific call by someone in the community calling for the attacks? or is it an ongoing thing? >> it's an ongoing generalized call for attacks all across europe but they have definitely named france, germany, and of course the united states as primary targets.

>> one of the things i've heard you talk about tonight is you've seen a lot of if not claims of responsibility certainly celebration. >> indeed. >> of these attacks. >> there's been a lot of people rejoicing these attacks. indeed, actually some isis hard-line jihadists whose accounts on twitter has been suspended 300 times, that's how active he is, he said this is a planned attack. of course this is unsubstantiated. but the mere fact that you have isis guys actually are saying -- if they have any knowledge we don't know. but that looks like it's a planned attack -- >> why is that important, a planned attack? what do you mean? >> it's important because we still don't know whether there's a link between actual terror groups or terror group and the actual attack. they look like they could have been coordinated among themselves, maybe inspired by aan ideology of some sort whether isis or al qaeda but some are saying this looks more coordinated than just a few wolf actors. -- >> i don't want to belabor the

point but that is a claim of responsibility but this known extremist who's been suspended from twitter all this time. he's saying when i look at this attack it has the hallmarks of a planned attack. >> right. it's not a claim of responsibility but it's his opinion and that mobilizes a lot of people to go online and continue celebrating these attacks. >> when we look at the details of the way this was carried out, one of the things i was really struck by from laura haim's reporting and one of the things that's been great about having canal plus's reporting represented on our air tonight is the number of witnesses to these events they've spoken to. and so they're giving us the most granular detail we have about how these things were carried out and the most that we know about the attackers. does it say anything to you as a hallmark or any sort of signature that they didn't wear masks, that they didn't make any effort apparently to disguise their identity or to try to blend in in some way that would allow them to get away? >> i think wearing masks makes them maybe stick out in the

first place. >> sure. it makes them identifiable. >> identifiable. it makes them unidentifiable wearing the mask but it makes them identifiable that they are the only ones wearing the masks. >> sure. >> however, a lot of those sort of attacks that have been carried out inspired by al qaeda or isis, a number of individuals did not wear masks. they expect to be killed during these kind of attacks and they expect to be as you mentioned earlier, essentially suicide by police that ultimately they'll have a siege and a kind of firefight, of course they'll receive martyrdom and in the end they will be lionized in the jihadist community as heroes. >> does it say anything to you, again, looking at what we know about how this attack was carried out, it appears they were age to launch nearly simultaneous assaults of two or three different kinds in geographically disparate places all within or around paris but not right next to each other. the stadium attack was a few miles away from the attack on the restaurant which was again some distance away from the attack at the music venue.

when we look at that level of coordination, the type of weapons that they had, the number of people who appear to have been involved here, the only thing that says to me as a lay observer is that this isn't a coffee klatch, this isn't a casual group of people, this is a group of people that must have at least trained among themselves if not gotten trained by somebody who's got military tactical experience. does it say anything to you about which kind of group might have been involved? >> look, this bears the hallmarks of a number of al qaeda attacks, for example. look, they targeted soft targets. they appeared to be coordinated. they put their hands on high-caliber automatic rifles. and they targeted civilians when their guard is low. it's not an attack on a military base. it's not a stabbing attack down the street or hacking attack. it looks like it was highly coordinated at least among themselves, they have purchased weapons, they have planned the

locations, it appears it was semi-simultaneous attacks. but the people who attacked the restaurant could have easily been the same people who finished attacking the restaurant and went over to the music venue and to continue attacking there until of course they were taken down. now, there's some confusion regarding how many bombings or suicide bombings actually took place. we heard that two, possibly three. so it's not clear how many of them died in suicide attacks versus how many of those attackers died fired by police. >> and the ambiguity, let's be clear about the ambiguity. there are unconfirmed reports it wasn't just one concern outside the stadium, that it was multiple either two or three. within that ambiguity there is also ambiguity about whether or not any of those explosions was caused by suicide bombers. although there is reporting, unk06r78d reporting that suggests that it was. there's also unconfirmed reports from inside the music venue that

the gunman inside that venue may have been armed not just with guns but also with explosive that's they either used -- either or both used as weapons against their hostages or potentially used to kill themselves at the end of the siege. that's all this point up for discussion. we've got multiple reports. let me ask you one last point. we have come to learn that symbolism and anniversaries are important to extremist groups of this kind, terrorist groups of this kind. is there any specific anniversary, is there any specific symbolic nature of either any of those venues or of today's date you that know of? >> not that i can recall. look, this is about, i don't know, 14 months after the u.s. launched its campaign on iraq and syria. of course 14 months it's not really an anniversary per se. but i think this looks like it was an attack of opportunity. everybody's guard was down. these guys looked like they had actually planned it by buying

all these weapons and coordinating these locations. but they chose the venue because it holds a big number of people and with high-caliber automatic rifles you can take down as they did well over 100 people in a short period of time. >> we don't have a confirmation on the death toll there, but it is believed to be over 100. laith alkhouri, msnbc terror analyst. thank you. we have new information. this is not directly confirmed by nbc news. i'm going to source the a.p. on this. the a.p. is quoting a paris police official. this is important. as saying that all of the attackers are believed to be dead. again, this is one of the key issues tonight, that there were definitely multiple attack hereers here. it's not clear whether any of them or a number of them died in suicide bombings as part of these attacks. that remains to be confirmed. but again, a paris police

official is saying that all of the attackers are believed to be dead. although according to the associated press authorities still say they are hunting for any possible accomplices. obviously, the news that this is over and that everybody responsible has been accounted for and is gone would be welcome news tonight. but again, paris police even while saying that they believe that's the case, they are still hunting for any possible accomplices. we're going to go now to richard engel, nbc chief foreign correspondent, who joins us from istanbul. richard of course has been covering terrorism and american efforts against terrorism for years. richard, thanks very much for being with us. i guess i just have to ask you if you see any reason to believe or if you have any indications from your report that these attacks were targeted for a reason that we can tie to the fight against isis. if there's anything that we can learn in terms of why this venue might have been picked, why this date might have been picked. >> reporter: well, i think you have to think of it as one

attack. you keep talking and everyone keeps talking about the apparent attacks. this was one military-style assault. the first bombings, suicide bombings or roadside bombings because there was some talk about a canister bombing by the stadium where the french president was inside, that's a come-on attack. that's going to draw a lot of attention. it's going to draw first responders. and then 15 minutes later or so you saw the much more deadly phase where you have the opened fire in the restaurants and then this siege and massacre at the concert hall. that is one attack. it does significantly suggest military experience. people who know how to fire weapons, know how to communicate, know how to kill. because you can sit in front of your internet all day long and get radicalized. it's very different to actually know how to operate a weapon and stay calm and kill people. so it suggests that they have had some degree of combat

experience either in iraq or syria. those would be the most likely places. so absolutely the assumption of all the officials i've spoken to is that this is related to the fight against extremists in the middle east. they just don't know which extremists in the middle east because you have this convoluted situation right now where you have isis and al qaeda and lone wolves all trying to one-up each other. if you remember during the "charlie hebdo" attacks, while analysts and police officials were trying to figure out who was responsible you also had a shouting match almost online between al qaeda and isis, claiming responsibility. and toward the end it was pretty much assumed it was al qaeda. specifically al qaeda in the arabian peninsula that was responsible for the attack. and one of those brothers had traveled to yemen to get some training and he was inspired by

an american cleric. and in the end it was determined the american cler nick yemen was in fact at least a central part to that plot. so i think u.s. anti-terrorism officials are trying to figure out who did it, was this a result of that rivalry, was isis trying to prove that it has now finally arrived on the world scale and is looking beyond the caliphate, as it calls it, in iraq and syria and can carry out attacks in beirut on thursday, like as it claims downing the russian airliner in sinai and now carrying out this atrocity in paris. because if the credit went a year ago to al qaeda, perhaps isis wanted to show that it can do it bigger and better and in an even more spectacular and horrific way. >> richard, we've got a little bit more information. again, cited to paris police

officials tonight. they're now giving us a little bit more information, i should say giving the associated press more information about exactly what happened inside the music venue. the paris police official telling the a.p. that the attackers at the bataclan rock venue, they did blow themselves up with suicide belts as police closed in. according to this parisian police official the gunmen first shot into cafes outside the music venue using their rifles. then they went inside the concert hall and killed more people there. and then there was the assault by security forces at which point they blew themselves up with suicide belts. i want to put the issue of suicide attacks to you specifically, richard. one of the things we're hearing tonight from french reporters is that it seems important to them to note that this was the first time there have ever been suicide bombings specifically in france, this is a tactic that has never been used in the country of france even though

they're no strangers to terrorist attacks. thinking about this as a counterterrorism challenge, are -- is it an order of magnitude more difficult to stop people who are willing to die while carrying out their attacks rather than people who try to get away, either to commit more attacks or to elude the police altogether? suicide bombers, qualitatively harder to stop than people who carry out more traditional attacks? >> it also goes to laith's point, that these people do not want to be captured. they want to die. and if you -- the worst thing you could be if you're one of these attackers is wounded. you get shot by the police, you drop your weapon, and you're captured. and you go on trial. thn you're not then you're not a martyr. so they would wear suicide vests so they can keep fighting and then when they can't fight any longer they can kill themselves and kill other people around them. i think a lot of the french are

culturally shocked that they have suicide bombers now in paris. and they should be culturally shocked because it is a significant change. that is something that europeans, that americans, that westerners, let's call it, have always thought was limited to the islamic world, that this is not something that would come to the shores of europe. but i've watched that just over the last year change dramatically. i've been covering the middle east, covering the land of the suicide bomber for the last 20 years or so. this year starting with "charlie hebdo," i was here in istanbul at the time, it was a very cold january day, and i remember hearing these attacks begin, getting on the next flight to paris. and i've been in europe more days this year than in the middle east because the problems of the middle east are washing up into europe, with attacks,

with massive counterterrorism sweeps, with the hundreds of thousands of refugees who are still trying to make their way into europe. and frankly, most europeans have no're isis, if you're al qaeda, it's an easy way to slip back in if you have no papers, joining a refugee convoy and crossing borders. that is an opportunity. it's a demographic issue. france tightening their border restrictions. these kind of attacks have the impact and already are having the impact of changing the culture, the mindset and the feeling of europeanness that

france and germans and many others have felt for a long time. >> richard, i don't think anybody anywhere in the world has illusions about isis being anything other than exactly what they are. but we have had this spate of them taking credit, or tonight, them implicitly being blamed for some remarkable and remarkably deadly international attack. if it is born out, isis' responsibility for the beirut attack this week. if it's born out they caused the russian plane crash -- >> actually, a counterterrorism official i'm speaking to thinks it's more likely to be al qaeda, but they really don't know. isis is a prime suspect because isis has been claiming responsibility a lot, and isis has the ability to mobilize large numbers of foreign fighters.

but counterterrorism officials say it could easily be al qaeda. so at this stage, i think we don't know. but does it matter that much? are they that different in mentality? are they that different in tactic or goal? there's a rivalry between them, but the end result if you're in europe tonight is the same. >> that's a perfect interjection, and it gets to kmaktly what i'm going to ask you is if to you put yourself in the shoes of a policymaker -- and i know you're a reporter, not a policymaker. but if a political decision is made in europe, or a political decision is made in the united states that because of recent events that means what is being done against al qaeda and is being done against isis is not enough, it's not work, there must be a more aggressive approach to them, or at least a different approach to them, are there policy options on the menu that american policymakers could choose but haven't yet? are there policy options that european leaders could but

haven't chosen yet. if they really wanted to upscale attacks and efforts to short circuit al qaeda and isis, what else could they do they're not doing now? >> well, from a u.s. foreign policy perspective, and the u.s. war against extremism, it's actually more comforting to think that this was al qaeda. because you can write it off as, this was al qaeda trying to reassert itself, and we all know that al qaeda is capable of big, spectacular attacks. if, in fact, it is isis, it's just that the u.s. strategy against isis, the u.s. war against isis, which is now centerpiece of american foreign policy with troops in iraq, just the recent announcement of u.s. ground forces in very small numbers going to syria with u.s. advisers helping retake the sinjar mountain in iraq just over the last couple of days if, in fact, it's isis, it would suggest that that entire effort is not working.

>> richard engel joining us live tonight at an ungodly hour. thank you so much for being with us tonight. >> my pleasure. >> we just did get some moving in uh tape here from here in new york city. this attack in paris has reverberate around the world, including in new york across the united states. but this video that we just got in tonight is apparently of french exchange students who are here in america, obviously watching the footage of this happening in their home country. that gathered tonight in new york city's yuan yor square and sang the frank nationench natio. [ sipging ]

. >> french exchange students singing the national anthem. in terms of the latest information we're still getting in, according to the associated press tonight, french police, again, are saying that they believe all of the attackers that were involved in the shootings and these bombings in paris tonight, they believe that all of the attackers are dead. but the head of paris police is saying now, even though they believe all the attackers are dead, they are actively searching for possible accomplices. again, the estimated death toll right now is over 120 people. i want to go now back to paris. joining us now is a freelance american journalist named seth porgis. he was staying in an apartment near one of the restaurants that was shot up. thank you for being with us. i'm sure it's been a very difficult night. >> thanks for having me.

>> can you just describe what you were doing and what you saw and what reaction you saw from people on the ground? >> absolutely. i'm saying in a apartment directly across from the restaurant that was shot up. there are a lot of people outside. i walked down stairs and i think the shooting went off when i was in the elevator. when i got outside, inside the gates of the apartment building, it's a gated building is a man with a bloody hand, bloody arm with something wrapped around it. my instinct, what i thought oconsider cured was somebody got in a bar fight. i walk a couple more feet and then i see a bunch of police officers. i thought someone got into a bit of trouble. it looked like normal police activities. it didn't look like anything out of the ordinary. and then i look closer and i see the police have their guns drawn. and they're hunched behind vans.

it looked like an action movie or a video game. it didn't look real. then there are firefighters blocking up the roads. there are dozens and dozens of onlockers and pedestrians. nobody is saying anything to them or shooing them anywhere. they're standing on benches, taking photos. most people aren't sure what's going upon 20 feet from here, people were going along their business thinking oh, it's a little bit of police action, no big deal. then you start talking to people. and someone says i heard five or six shots. somebody else says i saw a couple of bodies fall. somebody else says it's a machine guy. somebody else says the guy who has the machine gun is out there right now. then you realize, well, this is different. >> that last part, that very dramatic revelation that the gunman is still out there, did you talk to anybody, or did you talk to anybody who actually saw

the attackers? and crucially anybody who saw them get away? >> it's hard to say. it was chaotic. a lot of people were saying conflict things when i was there. somebody said they saw either shooting come from or go into a car. i read some reports that suggested the shooting might have come from a car. so maybe that person did see that. and other people say different things. so there's a lot of chaos, a lot of drama, a lot of activity going on. it's really hard to say what people actually saw. >> seth, can you just tell me briefly, that block where you saw this happen, at a typical friday night when something like this doesn't happen, what's that block like and how many people are around? >> yeah. it's a nightclub district. it's right at the corner with a mcdonald's and a restaurant and a cafe. it's about a block from a big plaza. the plaza is sort of a center of one of the largest night life areas.

it has night life and diversity and people protesting and camping out. but it's peaceful, a fun area for the most part. it's a little graffiti covered, but it's a fun, nice, peaceful area. on the friday night, there would normally be, and there were minutes before this countless of people wandering around. and after this occurred, it was the most amazing sight i've seen. a couple feet away nobody knows what's going on. you see them talk to somebody on the street as they pass by and their expression just changes. they just found out what happened. and at this point, nobody is aware of any of the other attacks going on. all we know is somebody with a gun is in this neighborhood, and we think it's local, we think it's isolated. it's quite some time before anybody i spoke to had any sense that this was a larger, multievent attack. and the first i heard that, actually, i was calling into a

tv show to tell my experiences, and i heard on the line that bombs had gone off. and it was startling to hear that. >> freelance american journalist seth porges who ended up being a witness to this tonight in paris. seth, thank you for helping us understand what you saw. thank you. >> thank you. >> it is now 10:00 p.m. on the east coast in the united states. there's a six-hour time difference between the east coast of the united states and paris, which means that it is 4:00 a.m. in paris. let me update you on what we know at this hour. this is a series of apparently coordinated attacks that hit paris tonight within a very short time frame. they started at about 9:30. we know that all of them had started, if not ended by about 10:15. in total, the sequence of attacks tonight has an unconfirmed, estimated death toll of approximately 120 people.