west in the united states. it's night time in turkey. i want to recap where we're at for those joining us. i'm kate snow in new york and you're looking at pictures where we learned that there were multip explosions and two possibly three explosions and our own richard angle talking to a witness that say that is they heard a first explosion and saw a police officer dive on a suicide bomber and then that bomber exploded. that witness says that they believe that the police officer was killed. then there was a third explosion outside. we have heard about explosions being heard and we have heard about gunshots being heard as well. lucy is our reporter in london following it all for us, and lucy, what do we know? >> well, kate a lot of details are unclear at the moment. we're hearing that there's at least two possibly and three explosions at the airport. this is the largest airport in turkey. one of the largest in the

region. our own nbc producer has confirmed that this blast or blasts took place outside of the international arrivals area. in the evening time that mean that is there's probably a lot of people going in and out through that area. now, we are hearing there from turkey's minister and he told root ers that ten people have been killed in the attack. we have to be careful with the numbers. those are likely to change by the minute and hour as the new details come through. pictures show wounded people in the area and then there's social media and then the report of the taxis in the hospital and all of that is still very much coming in. turkey has suffered a series of attacks throughout the past year and some have been attributed to the militants and others to the kurtish, so this is not a quiet or calm time for turkey at all.

this is a major transport hub. a lot of people flying in and out of this airport. it's happening in prime time when a lot of flights are scheduled to take off and land. this this area is facing large taxi cubes and it's likely you crowded at this time. in terms of security measures, you do go through regular security once you check into the airport. there are x-ray machines and so anyone with a bag has to put it through the x-ray machine, and it sound like what the producer has confirmed those attacks took place outside before this area in a rather crowded part of the area and before you entered the building. gain, so far turkey and justice minister are saying that ten people are killed and those numbers like i mentioned are likely to change.

>> ylie lucy, we will e let yo and go and make phone calls. ten people have died in the attacks in turkey. let's go to richard and he lives there and is in istanbul now. you have a front row seat, what have you been able to gather? >> well, we're on the way there and there's traffic at a night like this. this is not completely unexpected. this country has been bracing for attacks. we reported several weeks ago that isis was sending more than 20 30 attackers to carry out attacks during ramadan.

there's no claim to responsibility but isis is the suspects here when you have three suicide bombings and a high profile target and gunfire in volum involved as well. that does not sound like t kurtish. >> richard, what are they saying and hearing on local radio? >> so a witness told nbc news and this was a witness who we know and have worked with at the past. he is a reporter and have a long relationship with him. he was helping another customer and heard the first explosion and thought it was a suicide bomber. started to bauck up and people started the to run. then he saw a police officer wrestling with another suicide bomber and tack med him to the ground and that bomber detonated his device, and kills this

police as well. there was more panic and he tried to escape and then only heard in the distance a third explosion. terrible account and it sounds very like an up close view of this and attempt by the turkish security official. not unexpected. >> did he give you any indication where this was? we know that it was outside of the arrivals. did he say what kind of area this happened in? >> the area outside of international arrivals. if you drive up to it on the road and there's a small curb. a lot of taxi lines there and saying hello and good-bye and going through the doors and then there's the security check. it sounds like it happened before going into that initial security check to get into the

airport where people would have been getting out of taxis and saying gooded bye and getting ready for their flights. >> richard, would be the confusing elements is that we have heard reports of explosion and reports of gunfire. would that potentially be security trying to take down the bombers? >> potentially, yes. i would think the guns would come out quickly. i have not confirmed how much gunfire and if there was. the gunfire part is still an opened question. >> there were initial reports very early and maybe an hour ago that things might have been happening in a parking lot or a parking garage outside. have you ever been able to clarify that? >> well, there's a parking structure right across from the international arrivals and departures. the arrivals and departures are stacked on each other and there

are the dual passage ways that taxis arrive and then just afrom that is the long and short term parking facility. it's possible that there was gunfire and explosion in that direction because we're not talking anything this is more than 50 feet away. >> as we look at new video coming in and people out pseudoofpseudside of a hospital and richard, do we think that it's under control now or any indication that someone is on the run? >> i have not heard any indication. i'm getting closer to the airport now. traffic is moving. i'm not hearing any gunshots or anything like that or seeing any police held comet ers in the sky. from the lack of reporting to suggest that it's ongoing and what i'm seeing now suggest that it's contained or low. >> we hope.

richard, we're looking aat pictures of taxi cabs pulling up to hospitals. we have heard accounts that they got into a vehicle and we have heard more than 40 wound s and saying ten dead. is that with what you're hearing? >> you might be getting and i'm in a cab now and you may be getting information faster. >> that does sound very fla plausible. the airport does keep the ambulances 24 hours parked there and the ambulance services offer that service and that's not far from where they park and it's not far from the departures area. the fact that it's not enough and that the taxi drivers on their own have the desperation and the panic of people trying to get out of there by any means

and maybe there were others injured. that's a big taxi stand there. sometimes the taxis can be 30 or 40 feet. >> right. how far are you from the airport now? >> i'm just about five to ten minutes on a normal day. we will see what it's like when we get there. >> so here is what we will do. >> traffic seems to be moving. >> why don't we let you get there and then stay with us on the phone. >> i will reconnect when i get there. >> perfect. richard the chief correspondent over the istanbul. maybe you can help us understand what we're look at. >> yeah if you take a look at this and as richard laid out, as you go into the enter and just where the taxis are lined up and in here, you're going to have.

>> can you use the finger, it's hard to see the cursor. >> if there the parking ga ranges are here and here, there's going to be the baggage check and it's going to be long lines. it's a stand off security and that this does not get past the security. not all airports in the world have that check and places like turkey have it and across the middle east and certainly have that check and in a scenario like this can save a number of lives ch you're increasing the distance from the attackers and where they're queued up from the tickets. there's a baggage check before the main security, and this is where we believe and as richard

is unpacking that eyewitness report and police jumping on somebody with explosives on, that's right in here. just after you enter the airport and gain there's an initial bag gag check and not true at all terminals and here in the united states. it increasing the time at the airports, but in in stances like this, it may have saved lives. we're seeing from the mayor that ten people were killed as a result of terrorists attacks. ten of the citizen were killed. it's said that more than 40 are wounded. >> so the deputy mayor calling it a terrorists attack. i believe that's the first o official that we have heard use the term. thank you. stay with us. i'm going go back to jacobs. the fact that several weeks ago

there was a report of isis considering or launching tacks and sending them into tur kimplt that does not surprise you. >> no, for a long time we're looking at tmayhem and it was a attributed to the kurtish separates and turkey is a target by isis. the reason is that the united states has been permitted by the tur irk government to use turkey as a launching pad for strikes into iraq and syria, and isis has said that it's going retaliate many times. it's not surprising that if this turns out to be isis, that's the reason why. we fly out of the air base in the southern part of turkey and we use that base for all sorts of operations and then the turkish government would not let us do it and then the turkish

government says that we can start to use this again and the result is an attempt by isis to close that down. >> that's where the u.s. planes are flying into syria? >> yeah, into syria and iraq has well. >> let me go over to my colleague and he is in washington. had he covers aviation for us. give us the speperspective froma and ffa. >> well, they have been concern about isis somehow making the way to planes that would be bound for the united states and those people could pose a real threat. however -- by the way they worked with foreign airports to know that anybody that's traveling does go through the details background checks with

their to see if they're on the terror watch list to check the passports et cetera. among the issues skmehere and t reasons that they were not concerned and nobody is saying that they're off the table is that if you're coming from the battlefield or iraq, the people have very limited means and so they may not have a valid passport. they may not have a lot of cash. they may look suspicious by the demeanor and the appearance and so that one a bit of a red flag. they have been concerned all along about the possibility of the operatives from the controlled territory and making their way on to the planes bound for the united states. i am not suggesting in any way that's what's happening today. we're looking at an airport that's among those on the frontlines of the battle field and right next to syria and then which we have seen this conflict play out in terms of terrorists attacks in syria and as well in

turkey. we should remind the audience that it was back in mar when we had the deadly attack and then they attacked the train station and metro station in the heart of the union. they're the mayor airports ask train stations. it's not in the union and 90s is asia and this is the bridge and that's been a point of. turkey is not allowed in the eu. we should remind the audience and just in the last 24 hours

signed an agreement with israel and bringing the relationship with israel back to a normal footing after having been on a very bad footing for a better part of five or six years and ever since the incident and the israeli military. there are an awful lot of moving pieces here in turkey on any given day and competing interests. >> this is the time of night that some flights are p coming in from europe. >> yeah, i was just checking on that and you i know that there's an outbound flight from jfk later. that may in fact be postponed. we will see how that goes. 7:15 p.m., we were supposed to have an outbound flight jfk to istanbul and we do not know the

status of that yet. we will see how that progresses in the next couple of hours. >> if we're talking about the arriva arrivals, we can anticipate and it's people coming from other places and just arriving. >> there's the possibility on the location of where we think that the explosions went off, there's a possibility that western bound and u.s. and canadian bound passengers may have at that very moment starting to arrive for their flights. keeping in mind that part of the world they leave in the evening hours to arrive later. it's possible -- i got that reversed. they maybe coming in at that time. we will see how that plays out. >> if you're just joining us we're talking of explosions at the airport and 10 dead and more

than 40 people injured. lucy is in london and lucy, bring us up up to speed on what we know this hour. >> well, we're certain that attacks happened in the airport as you mentioned thises the largest and it's one of the largest in the region. prime time for flights at the moment and a will the of people going in and out and our own sources were able to confirm that the attacks could have been two potentially and three. we confirm that had they took place before you enter the arrive s. ten people were killed and those numbers were not confirm and the

death tool could rise. we hear 40 wounded, and we have to be careful with the numbers in the early moments. our own richard angle was able to speak to those on the scene. one said that they saw a police officer physically dive on the suicide bomber and then that bomber exploded and they believe that the police officer was killed. that's just some of the information that we're getting. we know there are locations to go and donate blood. there's a lot of wounded people there and we're also hearing that some flights to the airports in turkey have been diverted. it's not clear which which ones. i am working with my u.s. kons late sources and we do know that they're working hard to determine whether or not any

u.s. citizen could have potentially been caught up had in what took place. no confirmation there at the moment. we know this is busy and then as nbc was saying earlier if you look at security in the air parts many of them have dual layers of security. bruss brussels did not and they did have the extra perimeter and to enter the building, you have to put the luggage through the x-ray machine. the attacks took place before you enter that. gain, a lot of moving parts and we're trying to track more details for you. i'm working to confirm more information for you. >> lucy, we changed the number on the screen because turkish officials have just amended the

ou original numbers. the numbers are going to be all over the map until we know how many people were affected here. >> now, to an analyst and, verks evan at this point we may start to hear the chatter and claims of of the responsibility. any of that? >> so far no. there's no claims or responsibility. it's in that part of the world and it's possible that even if it's possible and they do intend the credit, we may not see a claim for several hours or until tomorrow morning in the eastern time. again, i think that richard angle makes the right point here and that's generally speaking that the two culprits that come in mind are the jihads and separatists. it's difficult to imagine why

they would attack the international terminal at the airport. generally speaking they go after turkish police and tarpgets. they do not go off western ers because that's not their beef. if that's them, it's unlike them. there are people talking about this and they're beginning to talk act this. we don't know if this was isis or o someone else. >> richard mentioned the timing. we're in romney d--

>> the turkish government is slowly moving away from gentle support of jihad and it's moving more to a fairly strong isis stance. we saw in the last couple of days that turkey is trying to amend the strained relationship with israel and russia and being the international party that's inside of syria and is bombing the targets inside of syria and more aggressively than we are. with that change and shift in policy, it's not that hard to isis would take it a priority to go after the targets. we have seen the isis attacks before in turkey and few on this scale and certainly known aimed at a target like this one and a major target. this was meant to send a message. three individuals sending a vest or two or three. we don't know and either way, multiple individuals and the suicide bomb vests that would tend to indicate a terrorist

cell that would tend to indicate those that know how to build the explosives and know the internet. this would indicate a plan that someone fought through and made sure that one of them would succeed and carry out the incident. based on that it's a well organized group and they're the number one in that regard. >> evan, thank you so much. >> another flight left at 6:50 and the next flight into the united states that we have is at 6:45 a.m. to jfk. 6:45 their time. that's safe to assume that that's suspended. we will get conformation on

that. i want to say that the state department just yesterday warned citizen of increased threats in turkey and to avoid travel to south east travel because of the ongoing security concerns and threats. that's in addition to a travel warning that was issued back in march. march 29th to be exact. they have been targeted by the international organizations. that information again and then the state department just yesterday warning the citizen of the threat of traveling to south east turkey. we're continuing to check on this. >> okay. tom, we will let you check. >> kristin is here and i would imagine that the president is being briefed. have we heard anything yet? >> i anticipate that he is being briefed. i reached out and no reaction yet. we know that he was going into a meeting with the defense secretary ash carter when this started to unfold.

>> cowince dentally. >> yes, that was a planned meeting. we will get reaction soon as possible. turkey an important ali to the united states. it's been strained in the resent months and given the fight against isis and the u.s. wanting more involvement from turkey and there's been some tension. turkey resumed relations with israel and that's something that the white house you supported and pressed for. this is something that the white house is watching and concerned about with the attacks. >> thank you. with us on the phone now is former u.s. ambassador to turkey and iraq. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me your reaction to what you're seeing

on the screen. >> this is an isis attack and then use of suicide bombers i am certain that when this all clears out, we will point the finger at isis. >> if you -- we were just speaking of the president the in a meeting with the defense secretary and being briefed. if you're the u.s. government, what are you doing now if you're at the u.s. embassy? >> well, you check with all of the american citizen, official and unofficial. the second thing that you do is reach out to the turkish government and see what assistance that the government might need and the third thing is ping every intelligence source to see if you can get to

the bottom of this. we have contacts that no one else has you including the turks. >> how is that relationship. you look at the the coordination and what's the view on that? >> well, generally the cooperation and the intelligence counter terrorism in the u.s. and turkey is outstanding. we do not have the problems that you have within the european union because you don't have the civil rights union or in the united states. >> if this is indeed a terrorists attack and if it's linked to isis and we don't know that at this hour, would you be surprised by that or would you say, you know what it was a matter of time? >> well.357 been four attacks by isis in turkey and one that kill

canned well over a hundred people. so approximate if the numbers remain on what was reported, this was not the largest isis attack. i know that airport and what you have is a defense that stopped these terrorists before they could get into the mists of hundreds of people. that was the in tempt. >> yeah, i guess that you're right to correct me. we're struck by the target. this is an international airport and perhaps a different airport that the previous attacks. >> anybody can get to the perimeter of anything. the question is can they get inside to the areas and it was not. it was successful. >> thank you so much for the time on a busy evening. appreciate it. >> thank you. bye bye. >> it's 4:30 almost on the east coast and almost 11:30 in turkey and again to recap what we're

covering at this hour. breaking news out of istanbul. 10 dead and 20 wounded at an attack at the airport at the airport in istanbul. the attack happening outside of the arrivals area. eyewitness reporting seeing people wearing a suicide vest or explosives. we don't have any details yet as to who was responsible or why this attack took place. gain, eyewitnesses saying that they saw people with explosive devices and heard large explosions and conflicting reports if they were two explosions or three. many many people injured and taken to the local hospitals. we saw them ferried and taxi

cabbed. saying that ten are dead this hour and 20 wounds. you were the first to notice it online, what you are you seeing on it now? >> yeah, this is the lay out of the terminal. there's go terminals and then the domestic one and this is the international one. this whole area here. this is what we're talking about. we're going to hear more and more on this as we go on. there's an initial security check out this point. before you enter the buildings, they scan the bags. it's really a spot check and it's designed for exactly this. it's designed to catch an attack like this and keep the harrah tacks out of this area and that's why people are checking in. around here is when you go to passport control. we heard them talking about how

the airport expanded in the resent years. this is where we're seeing the damage on this area here of the international arrivals terminal. again, just to recap for the viewers it was an hour and a half hour when two suicide -- we believe to be suicide bombers striking here and if it turns out to be true that this is where the initial explosion took place, this is where that security check is. this is not something that we have in the united states, but it's something that in the airports across the middle east and asia and some places europe. certainly this is where the attack took place as well before the security checkpoint. so we're going to wait to find out if the authorities were able to stop the bombers at that point. early indications are that's where that happened. we're hearing of the wounded and then that's the taxi line here. that's the quickest way to get people out.

this is a split level and then we have the departures and then downstairs for the arrivals. base bed on the video, this is where we're seeing the damage. >> just to clarify that we're talking of people arriving in from the hubs and not people lining up to go on the air plains. >> this is at that arrival area downstairs. you could not get in without putting the bag on the belt. that's not where they're opening bags and checking folkings. that initial check may have been enough to save lives. >> okay. back to richard and he is in istanbul. have you been able to get close over to the airport? >> yeah, we're at the airport but the roads are blocked off. this we went through a checkpoint and not the thing that you would

normally see. there were plan clothes officers and waiving people by. others were searching cars and then when we got to the airport gate, we were moved aside and a police car and ambulance and many people are driving around like we are. there's some confusion and seems like the police are trying to black off the roads leading to the area and people, taxis and others are are con fusfused on where to go. we're looking for an open gate. >> can you tell us again the story that you heard. it was dramatic from an eyewitness that you spoke to and know well. >> so this was at the time of an attack. a porter that we have and it's a long relationship was with another customer in the airport

and heard the first explosion and started to run away. and then he saw a police officer wrestling a man on the ground and a man get tackled and then a short while after that, he said that a suicide bomber exploded the device that he had and it's also believing that the police officer dragged him to the ground and was killed. then another pause as people started to baung and run away. that's when he heard some distance. >> it's a stunning account. richard, can you go back to what we heard earlier and you were talking about the report that you did recently on isis in turkey and the possibility of in

filtration of isis into more areas of turkey. >> he said even by now therefore been hundreds of air strikes by the group and carried out by the u.s. alone and the group remains capable of doing international attacks and has been deploying personal to carry out the attacks. now, on the more details on the people that they're deploying and more than 30 have been specifically moved from syria into turkey to carry out attacks. that's what we reported weeks ago. was this the work of those 30 plus militants that were infiltrated? no work or responsibility but

there's an explanation of this level of violence. >> can you describe what we're seeing right now? >> well, i'm not at the gate. unfortunately the police area is wiechltd i'm driving along with a lot of other confused taxi drivers and people just getting home for the night. i see several ambulances and there's not mood of panic. 20 or 30 minutes ago there was more tension in the air when we ran into a checkpoint. they were there with the guns drawn and it was held in a

posture like the officer meant to use it. things have been tense, but now it's just a little bit of confusion of the people are dealing with the extra security measures that are put in place. >> okay. we will let you go again to continue the journey to the terminal and check back when you get there. thank you so much. >> back to tom and aviation. >> yeah we have u.s. registered flights in turkey. there are no passenger carriers inside or outside of the u.s. there are ten that are in bound to the united states right now. in bound turkish flights that

are in bound to the united states right now. we expect that they will continue on to the united states. the outbound flights from the united states to turkey we believe at the moment are on hold until the situation is resolved. to underscore that yet again, we do not have u.s. airliners that fly directly in to turkey. it's only turkish airliners that fly into and out of -- we have ten of those flights in bound and at the moment we believe that the flights that are going and that would go back to turkey are at hold for now. that's where we stand on that screen right t now. >> for people watching in airports there's no impact here in the united states? >> when ever there's a situation over seas homeland security and tsa obviously move to a bit more of a heightened awareness if nothing else. how does that translate into airport term nams around the

united states? you may have a briefing in that the person in command says that we had this incident today and we're going to be on the game today. you should take everything seriously and not over look everything. at the moment we have no reports of heightened security at airports over seas. after brussels we had airports go into a higher profile with the airport police and more k 9 teams on the ground and that sort of thing. if in the terms of how things operate at the u.s. airport, that does not change a lot when it occurs over seas. >> tom, thanks so much.

let's go to kristen and she has been here monitoring the white house. >> we learn that had the president has been briefed on the attacks and in turkey by the adviser. we're going get a fuller statement from the white house once they digest this news. it's going talk about the important alliance between the u.s. and turkey. obviously as we have been talking about throughout the hour, turkey is one of the united states most important partners in terms of fighting isis. they have been some strains in this relationship recently, but they have been stepping up the military presence to try to really block the borders and the flow of foreign fighters and turkey is an important buff er between isis and turkey. president obama has been briefed on this situation he was meeting with ash carter when this happened. it was a preplanned meeting.

that became the focus, and i would anticipate that we will get a statement from president obama in writing in just a moment. will. >> okay. let me point out what we're looking at. we have seen a lot of video tape and this is live coming in and so the cam aharrah that we have now is a live shot at what is happening at 11:41 p.m. at istanbul, turkey. if you're just joining us, there were two or three explosions and witnesses describing what they believe is suicide bombers and devices. again ten people dead according to turkish officials and about 20 wounds. those numbers are fluctuating and not jet confirmed.

on the last report and hearing that the president is meeting with ash carter, i was just with him two weeks ago where he met with turkey defense minister there. >> a lot of things to say and the impression is is that turkey has been trying to do a little better with the ali to the u.s. and the fight of isis. right now it's just across the border in syria and that's the location of a major assault that's backed on one side by turkish fighters and then the american fighters and also the curds. they're at odds and have been. there's a complicated set of circumstances. i would also caution anyone that's claiming that who is behind us and there's the plan reasons and plenty of reasons to think of them as well and that's the bombings this month.

we need to to see what comes after them and the attacks. >> after the last guest was pointing out kevin, it's not unheard of to have isis attacks had in turkey. it's happened before. this would be on a different scale or maybe i should not say different scale but a large target and an internationally target. >> yeah that's right. it's a target. they're endamage ngered with th police forces and then not just in istanbul and other side of the country. obviously this is the international airport it could be worse and again there's plenty of reasonings for trouble to be stirred in tur de and istanbul and literally one week

before the start of the summit. >> kevin, thanks for being with i was and stay with us on the line there. as we look at the live pictures, that's outside of f tthe airpor >> showing you a piece of video and this is reported to be the moment of the explosion. this appears and then it appears it's together inside of the terminal and then that's the moment of the blast and then you will see the flash coming and then it looks like the lower level of the terminal and all of the signs that we compared to looks the same and this is reported to be the moment of the explosion about an hour and 45 minutes ago. i will replay it one more time. it's exceptionally dramatic and

the power of the explosions. >> that's stunning to see. that's going hurt a lot of people. >> yeah, it gives you an idea when we talk about ten people killed and 20 wounded. we reason that we use the word at least that these are the other wounds that literally rip the others apart. it's very difficult to treat and then you see the ceiling collapse of the power of the explosions. >> and gain the reporting that we have right now based on some eyewitnesses is there may have been two or three explosions heard? >> yeah, i have no way of knowing if this was the first or last or that middle explosion, but it certainly gives you an idea of how the panic spread through the terminal. again all of this in the context of the security forces may have

saved a great number of lives by stopping the explosion at the entrance. you can see where the blast goes off. it's at the entrance and imagine how much more damage would have been inflicted if an explosion like that would have gone off in the middle of the pact terminal. we cannot confirm but we believe this to be the video of the moment that one of the explos n explosions goes off. >> yeah, someone telling richard angle that we saw a police officer or a security officer tackle someone and then an explosion, so it certainly appears that it could have been a lot worse than it is. lucy is in the london bureau and working sources from over there and lucy, at this hour why don't you give us exactly what we know and what we don't yet know. >> we do know that there was an

attack at the airport and this is the largest airport. the numbers are going to change and we have heard 20 wounds and that's not confirmed at the moment. it's worth noting that this marks the anniversary of sigh sis and the fate across and we have no clue at this moment who might and then invests and we don't know and before entering the perimeter and some say that the police tried to open fire and then the culprits opened fire themselves before detonating their vests. we don't know if that was the case. this is -- there are two major

airports surveyed and this is the biggest one as i was saying and of course at this time in the evening and at the arrivals there are bound to be a lot of people going in and out and dropping off at the airport. if that did take place outside of the entrance, there's laikel to be taxis getting dropped off. we saw the video of the taxis wounded and we did see the and then we are still trying to confirm what potentially happened. i did reach out to my state department sources and they're working to confirm at the moment whether potentially any u.s. citizen are caught up in this. no information on that in the moment. we're also hearing that flights are continuing to land at the airport and that's a very large

airport and that's going to be interpreted there and it's not a quiet sometime for turkey at all and seeing the numerous attacks and some to the state and others attributed to the kurtish separatists and we know that u.s. president obama has been briefed on what happened. we will continue to work the phones kate and get more information to you and the viewers. >> lucy, thank you so much. richard is back on the phone with us and trying to make the way to the terminal. richard? >> well, the roads we can confirm are closed off. there are some journalists that gathered and one television crew started to set up the equipment and was moved along by police.

they have spread out a wide perimeter. we're hoping to get inside and get access to the terminal itself. we have not gotten that, and at this stage we're relying on the witnesses that we can talk to on the phone and people that are at the explosion at the time and also you talked about flights being disrupted and a witness told us that they landed on the plane from an international area and then it's still been sitting at the tarmac and then the pilot got on the pa system and saying that they were not allowing the passengers at this time because of the related issues. >> richard, i just want to go to something that we have learned from theproducers. the attack fits the sigh sisis e and that the long summer discontent has begun. this noting that the suicide

bombers fits the isis profile. and then it's the middle ones that disagree with the assessment and the scale of the isis threat. perhaps you can talk to that richard and they have not had the same success that the u.s. government has. >> well, first on the intelligence that fitting on what i have been hearing and particularly during the month of ramadan, they were going to carry on an attack here and with the militants. the outline was that isis remains strong and determined to carry out international level attacks and that the capacity is not diminished and even though that the group has lost territory and hundreds and several thousand air strikes. turkey is a main target.

the turkish government has a vote of them and then they would say that it came late to the game and allowed to border to be opened and did not and affectively control not even the spra entrance points and then the police and then that this country became the main transit point for isis fighters into and out of syria over a long period and that turkey did not do enough in the early days to address the problem. >> richard on the phone with us and making the home and reports from. richard, we will let you go and gather more information. let me get to kevin and then the analyst and then the editor of the defense one. this fits the profile for isis and then again at this hour we

don't have any claim of responsibility out of isis. does it fit your and are you hearing the same thing from the sources? >> yes. you laid the map correctly. the use of su side bombers and an attack of the middle east and takes it to a greater scale. i am sure that they will say that it's a representative and they like to use the phrase of the desperate attack by the group and as richard said is losing on the battlefield and in syria and iraq in the last month or month and a half.

in lists the turks and then the international level and then the operators closer to the border to work with the fighters and then they all lack and seems to add up to a reason to expect isis was strike back across the border and turkey. >> kevin with us and another part of the team covering all of this breaking news and then tom? >> let me give you the latest. the out flights are delayed at the moment. we had a 7:15 flight and believe that's on hold. the morning flight is going to be on hold as well, we believe. there are ten boind flights that we're told are continuing into the united states:the concern

all along post brussels and you may recall that was on the 22 and 32 people were killed. the airports from the middle east and from europe and into the united states and insuring that those airports are doing everything that they can to screen the passengers. this would appear to be a situation where there was not just there was the first area and then the goal here all along at this airport and others that institute this kind of a security protocol is to try to limit the damage for where more and more passengers might be and then of course planes on the

tarmac or at the gate. they're insuring that the security systems are robust and expected to be in the united states. literally tsa agents go to the airports and do audits and they interview the local security personnel and do a surveillance of the airport and then report back. it's in the interest and in terms of tour richl to be in compliance at a minimum with the tsa requires for the security in the united states, and because there are direct flights into the united states and they have been complying with the tsa at that air port. this is a sophisticated airport and not a third world airport by any means and turkey is very

much a country with a military and police presence and one would assume that these terrorists got through the security perimeter. >> tom, my mind goes back to brussels and the attack at the airport there and that was near the -- >> it was on the departure level on one level up from baggage, but it was on -- almost every flight is international and it was on the hall and not far from and not yet at the security checkpoint. it started to screen people literally out in the parking lot and that caused a massive baung that they're dealing with and coming up with a fix for that. if you're talking about trying to stop an attack from the airport, a terrorists can also

attack somewhere. >> yeah, that's the sad truth. tom, thank you. we're looking at the airport were and studying the inside of the building. >> we see the terminal two and that's the international terminal and luckily it did not take place in the terminal and ten people killed and another 20 wounded kate? >> okay. so again to recap for those and just joining us as we approach

the top of the hour. we're looking from the live shot and outside of the airport in istanbul, turkey ch tonight it was the subject of an attack. two or three explosions at the airport and now a little more than an hour and a half ago. they were wearing a suicide vest and one reporter describing the scene with one person exploding the device and then another man being confronted by some kind of police officer or security guard and at that point that person exploded their device as well. i am going to hand it over now. "i am cait" snow and going to hand it over to chuck todd that continues the coverage. >> good