today. orlando was part of that, brussels, paris. this is the era we are in now. >> thank you both. i have a feeling we will be hearing from you both very soon. i will hand things off, re-hand things off back to kate snow. kate? >> we have breaking news at this hour. we have new video coming in to msnbc of the moment that one of these explosions occurred in istanbul, turkey. i want to warn viewers that it is a bit graphic but we will try to show you only the parts that are not as graphic as others. cal perry is here with that. cal? >> with that warning, i will go ahead and roll this video. you will see a suicide bomber running through the airport. i will go ahead and start this video. this is purported to be off a cctv camera, off a computer screen. so cctv footage shown off a computer screen. you see the bomber come running into the picture there. he's fallen. that's when he gets shot purportedly. you see a gun flying. shortly you will see the explosion. i want to reiterate to viewers, again, this is coming from cctv

footage. we believe from inside the airport, again, the explosion's taking place just about three hours ago. there's that explosion. so again, the story that is emerging here is one potentially of heroic actions by the security forces. we understand from richard engel that one of the police officers literally threw himself on one of the bombers. we now have video footage that we believe shows the inside of the airport and the second suicide bomber falling from a shot fired from a security official before detonating his explosives. as you see him detonate, what we assume are some kind of body vest there, there's no one around. there are no civilians around him at that moment. that we believe could have potentially saved many, many lives. >> i'm sorry. can you hear me? cal, walk us through where this video comes from. i know we go through a process here at nbc news before we put

things on television, but is it social media? >> yes. this is coming off twitter. again, i'm using the word purportedly and using the words believed because we have not independently verified that this is a suicide bomber and we are comparing this to other shots from inside the airport to make sure that for example, the signage is the same, that the terminal floor is the same, that there are certain consistencies. this is again coming off a computer screen that is purported to be cctv footage from inside the airport. i'm pausing it there on purpose because it is a bit graphic after that. >> so in other words, you can see that people are injured. >> no. well, in this case, it doesn't appear that anyone was injured from this blast because it appears that everybody has cleared the area. what you see is you see pieces of the bomber actually flying through the air. but again, the thing is that what's emerging here is not only that standoff area where they check that initial baggage, but that the authorities here seem to have done a tremendous job of neutralizing these bombers and

at least trying to minimize the amount of damage that they did in these horrific attacks. >> you're right on on that. at least it's not an area filled with people. it looks like they had either cleared that area or he just happened to be somewhere where there weren't a lot of bystanders. that's one bit of good news on a very very bad news day. let's go to london now. lucy has been following the situation for the last few hours with us here. just reiterate what we know at this hour from authorities in turkey. >> reporter: well, of course, a lot of moving parts here in this developing story but what we can report so far, we can confirm obviously that attack at istanbul, ataturk airport, two potential suicide bombers which could explain why one of those videos shows the guy a little bit inside the airport. we don't exactly know how many of them or whether that was of course a man, but it's also unclear whether the attackers opened fire before blowing themselves up or whether police

fired shots to try to stop these attackers. as we saw in that previous video, if that is confirmed, that could as cal had reported potentially show that there was some heroism by turkish authorities in trying to negate the disastrous consequences of these attacks. the latest we are hearing on the numbers and those are likely to change is at least 28 people killed, 60 wounded according to istanbul's governor. that number is likely to go up in the coming hours. this is turkey's largest rport. i have lived in the country for quite some time. i'm very familiar with it. this is europe's third largest airport. 60 million people passed through it last year. it is kind of similar, to give our viewers some context, to chicago's o'hare airport. you can imagine on a tuesday evening, a lot of families, lot of business travelers, people passing through this area. these attacks reportedly took

place just outside of that arrivals hall and that is usually a very, very busy area. so again, if those attackers had been able to get further into where the actual check-in counters were, the casualties would likely have been a lot higher. no claims of responsibility at this point. we do know that turkey is of course not had a very stable few months or years. there is the consequences of the spillover of the war in syria. we have seen rebellion and conflict with the kurdish population, the kurdish separatists, the pkk in the southeastern part of turkey. quite a few attacks over recent months. the u.s. consulate at the moment working very hard to try to figure out whether any u.s. citizens were potentially swept up in those attacks. no information about that as of yet but we are working to confirm that for you. >> those numbers are striking me because i was off the air just for an hour and in that hour, the number of dead has gone up to 28.

as you say, those numbers may rise. >> reporter: that's absolutely true. >> go ahead. sorry. >> reporter: no, i was just going to say, again, we really should emphasize this is such a central hub. if you travel at all through the middle east, through europe, many flights are routed through this airport. if anyone really sort of wanted to hurt turkey where it really hurt the country, this airport would be the prime target. so far, nothing like this has happened in the country, at least as far as that airport is concerned. again, they do have more security measures than for example brussels or even american airports but of course, now that these airport attacks seem to be more common, we really should keep an eye out for whether there will be changes to the security procedures that all of us are used to. >> let's pick up on that with tom costello, our correspondent on all things aviation. he's been tracking the story from washington, d.c. for us. tom, lucy mentions airports and security.

this coming months after the scene we had in brussels, belgium. what do we know from authorities who you cover all the time, people in homeland security and tsa? >> couple of points here. to begin with, there's no change to the federal security posture at u.s. airports this evening. however, some airports are in fact adding more high profile tactical police units to their patrols. that especially is happening in new york city's airports, jfk as well as newark and laguardia. you are likely to see what they call the courtland of hercules units. they look like s.w.a.t. team officers patrolling the airport perimeter and through the terminal as a sign of deterrence and also as a sign of force. miami has what essentially is a full-time tactical unit always patrolling the airport in miami. same with l.a. you will see that likely in these airports but that is not a shift in the tsa security

posture. it is simply local big cities taking on that heightened state of security and alert. i would also tell you that we have counted ten inbound flights from turkey into the united states tonight. a flight into jfk which should have landed by now, another one landing any minute into boston, also lax, chicago o'hare, san francisco, miami, houston, intercontinental, also atlanta, washington dulles and late this evening at jfk. these are all turkish airlines flights. these are not u.s. carriers. but because they are flying directly from an overseas airport, the last point of departure into the united states, they must according to u.s. federal regulations comply with tsa security protocols and regulations. so quite literally, tsa officers and liaisons go to these overseas airports and ensure that they are, that their security is up to u.s. standards before any flights can fly directly into the united states.

so i would make that point to you. lastly, egyptair, two more points, pardon me. egyptair canceling their wednesday flights now into istanbul. that is not a long hop for egyptair. as the point has been made, istanbul is really a main transit hub for traffic between europe and into the middle east and into asia. so you will likely see other airlines doing the same. i did want to make this point. the state department just yesterday warned u.s. citizens of increased threats from terrorist groups throughout turkey and to avoid travel to southeastern turkey. that is on top of a travel warning that came out back on march 29. it is no secret that this has been an area of great heightened security concern and in recent months, attacks that have targeted areas where tourists frequent so tonight, we have the manifestation of that in one of the busiest airport hubs for that region. kate? >> tom, i don't know if you were able to see at the top of the hour the new video we just

showed of what appears to be potentially one of the suicide bombers being taken out by security. i guess i'm wondering about the security situation as you mentioned, tsa would have consulted istanbul's airport and told them what they needed to do to comply with u.s. standards but it appears this all this happened just outside of a secure area, correct? >> reporter: it is so premature to get into, for me to get too far into speculation op to how this went down, where it went down, but the earliest video would suggest that this happened, that this incident was caught at the outer layer of security and that istanbul is fortunate that it has an outer layer of security before you get to the check-in counters and the main level and layer of security. so in that sense, it would appear that the system may have worked in limiting the number of fatalities and the damage and then ensuring that the

terrorists were taken out as rapidly as possible. but i say that with great reluctance because of course, we have reports of so many people dead and injured at this airport. >> we don't know what we're looking at in that video, if that was one of two or even three blasts potentially and the others may have been in other areas of the airport. tom costello, thank you so much as always. on the phone with me now, jared moulson, middle east correspondent for "time" magazine. i'm not sure exactly where you are. are you outside of a secure perimeter? are you near the terminal? >> yeah, i'm -- hello? yes. >> can you hear me okay? we are having some trouble with jared's cell phone. let me bring in our nbc

terrorism analyst and director of middle east and north africa research and analysis at flashpoint. i see you only when we have terrible, tragic situations like this, unfortunately. one of the questions we always ask, has there been any claim of responsibility? is there any chatter online to point us in any direction yet as to who did this? >> as any breaking news of this kind of fashion, if you will, there has been no claim of responsibility yet from isis or al qaeda or any other terror group. also, the chatter online just like as always with these kind of attacks, pro-isis supporters online are going in jubilation. they believe that it's one of their own, somebody who is either -- individuals were either inspired by isis or had been directed by isis have carried out this attack. >> they don't know that but are celebrating because they think? >> exactly. >> so to your mind, as someone who studies this and follows all of these groups very closely,

does this bear the hallmarks of isis? >> certainly this kind of operation carries some characteristics of previous isis operations we have seen. first of all, we see multiple suicide bombers to make these kind of explosives. it's not something you just learn online. they have mastered the actual preparation of these kind of explosives. also targeted individuals at airports, specifically tourists, not really mainly turks. a lot of individuals are coming in and out of turkey from all across europe. so these characteristics indicate that this might have been an isis inspired or isis directed operation. >> have we heard before today, have you heard a lot of chatter out of isis talking about potentially targeting turkey? >> no. but they have talked about their criticism of turkey's decisions as of late, specifically it's reigniting good relations with israel as well as -- >> last week, right? >> last week, as well as new talks with russia.

both israel and russia obviously are nemesis of jihadi groups, specifically isis. but also, this could be a plot by some jihadi groups to turn the attention of the turkish governments towards the kurdish separatists who are also an enemy of isis territorially in northeastern syria. >> always good to have you with us. thank you. we'll be back with more continuing coverage of the turkey terror attacks after a short break.

♪ what backache? what sore wrist? what headache? advil makes pain a distant memory.

nothing works faster stroer or longer what pain? advil. fight heartburn fast. with tums chewy delights. the mouthwatering soft chew that goes to work in seconds to conquer heartburn fast. tum tum tum tum. chewy delights. only from tums.

good evening. once again, i'm kate snow as we continue our special coverage of the attacks in turkey this evening. here's what we know at this hour. 1:17 in the morning in istanbul. suicide bombers have hit the istanbul airport, turkey's largest airport. the death toll now stands at 28 people with at least 60 wounded. those numbers could of course change. no groups have claimed responsibility just yet. we have new footage that purports to show one of the explosions, though nbc news has not independently confirmed

this. we should warn you, it is graphic. it is security video shot off of a computer screen that appears to show someone being shot and then shortly after that, we ran it a little earlier this hour, you do see an explosion take place. we are not going to show that to you right now but after he lays there for a moment, there is an explosion. another video that we have also security camera footage playing on a computer, and that one as you just saw shows quite clearly an explosion inside the terminal. joining us now, msnbc contributor steve clemens, the washington editor at large of "the atlantic" covering foreign affairs and alongside me here, colonel jack jacobs, msnbc military analyst. steve, let me start with you. speak to this country, this setting, the airport, why would this be a target? >> well, isis has already hit other tourist related targets

inside turkey near the blue mosque. there were a number of german tourist ths that were killed in isis suicide bomber attack. isis has been frustrated for turkey's increasing racheting up of pressure on isis and its fellow travelers. this is something turkey sort of warmed up to because there was a point where turkey essentially talked a lot about fighting isis but did very little. recently, particularly after various terrorist attacks and also becoming closer to the united states, also announcing just recently a normalization of relations with israel which vice president biden was a key architect of, there has been a warming up. there are a number of reasons why isis might have wanted to send president erdogan and the turkish people a message but also, a hallmark of what they do is attacking tourists, attacking the lifeblood of the economy of these countries that it is at

odds with. >> colonel, you were talking -- we were talking earlier and you talked about military cooperation. it's always been tight but just recently we started using their base again to fly missions. >> yeah. we had a very difficult relationship with erdogan. he's a populist and for a long while we were not allowed to fly in or out of the air base which we had for a long, long time, because we wanted that base from which to launch attacks on isis, at targets in syria, targets in iraq. >> there's political sensitivity over that, obviously. >> and we also wanted the turks to do something about their border with syria. the turks have mandatory military service, everybody who is 18 years old has to serve two years so they have lots and lots of people in uniform and under arms. a million? i don't know what the number is. it's fairly substantial. we wanted them, the turks, to use them, these people under

arms, to do something about protecting the borders and preventing the entrance of terrorists from -- into turkey, from which they could get into europe. wouldn't do it for a long while. changed their mind now. they are going to start employing these guys along the border. changed their mind about the use of the air base. as steve said, also changed their mind about the relationship with russia on the one hand and israel on the other. this is something that isis has taken a look at. the other interesting thing to keep in mind here is i think that the whole idea of being harassed continuously by the separatists, kurdish separatists, that's one thing, but having them infiltrate the country, then attack in quick succession in this year alone, i think four or five attacks inside turkey, i think, has gotten erdogan's attention and i

think -- there's one other thing worth keeping in mind. no matter what the political relationship is, has been between the united states and turkey, the military relationship has been very, very good indeed for a long period of time. it's just going to get tighter. >> what about the relationship between turkey and the rest of europe? turkey of course sitting right on that borderline between half of it being in europe and half of it in asia, essentially. what about the geopolitics there? >> well, it's been tense for a very long time because turkey was for a long time on a track to potentially in a number of years to potentially become a member of the european union, and then that was stopped until recently, in which europe did a deal with turkey, essentially saying if it became a home for a majority of the syrian and other displaced refugees in the region, there would be about a $3 billion transfer payment to turkey and then those talks about eventual turkish membership in the european union

would be restarted again. so there's been -- so turkey agreed. turkey has agreed to do that. but at the same time, the freedom of the press and concerns about the solvency of turkish democracy have been growing. erdogan challenged in german courts a cartoonist that lampooned him and he looks increasingly like a strongman who is very much at odds with the ethic of democracy and civil society in most of europe. so it's a mixed relationship. when it comes to syrian refugees, when it comes to sort of being on the front line of some of what's happening in the very ulcerous middle east, turkey has been a bit of a buffer. europe has been paying it to do so. >> so in light of what's happening now, and we look at these pictures coming in live from the airport, maybe it's too early to ask, but steve, how does that change what you just described? will there be an outpouring of support for turkey? will there be an even tighter relationship? >> i think there will be an outpouring of support for the

turkish people but i think there's some concern that erdogan, i think people will be confused. erdogan is already a strongman in the country. he's already curtailed civil liberties, thrown journalists and press in jail who have questioned this, he has clamped down and reportedly said on the record his goal is to annihilate the pkk which is the kurdish separatist group that's operating there, and of course, is now very focused on isis. i have been to turkey many times, and was there recently with the vice president. it's hard to imagine a state that's shifting more and more into sort of a hyper security state than turkey right now. i think in the end, jack's absolutely right. we have a nato summit coming up in warsaw in the next week. turkey is a nato member nation, and i imagine this is going to be very high on the list of discussion points about how to deal with this increasing problem of domestic insecurity inside nato member nations. >> you want to pick up on that?

what happens at that summit? >> a lot of stuff behind the scenes are going to amplify the relationships and i think there are going to be exercises and standard operating procedures that are going to be proposed and accepted that is -- that are going to draw turkey even more strongly into the nato military fold. what's really interesting about erdogan is one of the things that's motivating him in addition to a certain amount of megalomania, one of the reasons he's acted like he has politically, is that he's been playing to a domestic audience. once he secured his strength there which he has, he now feels he can do just about anything politically domestically. thankfully, there are parallel universes here. politics on the one side and there's not much we can do about that, but in terms of military

cooperation, extremely strong and i think it's going to strengthen even more. to the extent that it does not, then everybody's in big trouble. so the outcome of this summit is going to be very very important next week. >> not to mention what's going on in britain right now as well. complicating everything in europe. colonel, steve, thank you both for being with us on a busy night. appreciate it. we will be back with continuing coverage. i am a lot of thgs. i am his guardian. i am his voice. so i asked about adding once-daily namenda xr to his current treatment for moderate to severe alzheimer's. it works differently. when added to anothe zheimer's treatment, it maymprove erall function and cognition. and may slow the worsening of symptoms for a while. vo: namenda xr doesn't change how the disease ogresses. it shouldn be taken by anyone allergic to memantine, or who's had a b reaction to namenda xr or its ingredients. tell their doctor if they have, or ever had, a seizure disorder, difficulty passing urine,

liver, kidney or bladder problems, and about medications ey're taking. certain medications, changes in diet, or medic conditions may affect the aunt of namenda xr in the body and may increase side effects. the most common side effects are headache, diarrhea, and dizziness. all my life, he's protected me. now i am giving back. ask their doctor about once-daily namenda xr and learn about a free trial offer at namdaxr.com.

'. i'm kate snow. these deadly attacks in turkey. moments ago, reaction from the presumptive republican nominee, donald trump, releasing a statement ahead of a rally. we are looking at a live picture there in ohio. he's expected to be there at the top of this hour. the statement reads and i quote, our prayers are with the families of those injured, killed and injured in istanbul. the whole world is stunned and horrified. the terrorist threat has never been greater. our enemies brutal and ruthless and will do anything to murder

those who do not bend to their will. we must take steps now to protect america from terrorists and do everything in our power to improve our security to keep america safe. that, a new statement out of donald trump. again, we are waiting for his remarks at the top of the hour at 7:00 eastern time is when they were scheduled. meanwhile, back in turkey, government media just aired an interview in english with a witness moments ago. let's take a look at that. >> we were searching for our items and we saw [ inaudible ]. >> were you outside the airport? >> yes. we are going to get the package in the car and he was inside. my brother was inside and he is coming and the explosion happened. >> this happened at the arrivals area? >> yes.

arrivals. >> did you hear an explosion in was there gunfire? >> it was a lot of, you know, gun. my two brother also have -- >> he's been taken inside now? >> yes. my brother is not very good. i can't see him now. i want to see him. i don't know what to do. >> an eyewitness there speaking about his brother, from what i could hear it sounded like his brother had been injured in the attack at the istanbul airport. on the phone with me is brian cotoullis with the center for american progress. you know that region. you have been through that airport many times. talk to me first about this attack and the significance for the word. >> well, look, things are so bad in the middle east today that there's a guessing game every time one of these terror attacks happen, is this isis, is this al qaeda, could it be the kurdish

pkk group. we don't know just yet. but the main point i think is that turkey is right next to syria, borders syria, and the notion that the conflict inside of syria could be contained, an idea that people had a couple years ago, simply have not been proven by facts. you see these targeted attacks on airports in brussels and now in istanbul, and this is a phenomenon that i think we are seeing progress against isis in iraq and syria militarily, but the movement itself has fragmented and if it is that group, it really is i think a challenge because it is a heavily decentralized group and you won't prevent these type of attacks 100%. >> we are getting new information in from our chief foreign correspondent richard engel who based on talking with a senior u.s. counterterrorism official says that official tells richard that today's attack was the work of a group of 35 terrorists that isis sent

to turkey ahead of the holy month of ramadan. not that the 35 were all involved in the incident but there was a group of about 35 people who had gone to turkey to try to plan things during this holy month. does that make sense to you? >> yeah, it does. again, the more that the isis movement itself feels pressure from our military attacks in iraq and syria, i think the more you are likely to see attacks like this. this is what people feared the most when we had such large numbers, thousands of people going as foreign fighters, and the ability for people to come from syria into turkey is quite easy. i have worked in that part of eastern turkey and even until recently, it's easy for somebody to come in there. but this sort of attack and if it's three dozen people, it shows the level of planning and sophistication that goes into it and i think this is a main point, that we are almost two

years into the campaign against isis and this is nowhere close to being finished, and i think the movement itself is trying to target places like airports like this one. >> secretary kerry actually made the point in his comments about an hour ago that it's very difficult to stay ahead of an enemy like this. the source that richard spoke -- okay. i'm sorry. i will interrupt myself for a moment here. if you will forgive me, donald trump is speaking right now. we will go to him a bit early. he's in ohio. >> -- really, really bad, all right? it's bad. and we better get smart and we better get tough or we're not going to have much of a country left, okay? it's bad. terrible. so i just left west virginia and i was with a group -- whoa. >> all right.

as donald trump continues with his event in ohio, we will go back to the scene in istanbul. those were brief remarks from him. brian, if you are still with me, i was about to say the source that richard engel spoke with, a senior u.s. counterterrorism official also indicated to richard that this might be not the end but the beginning, that this might be the first of several attacks he was told ahead of the muslim holiday, july 6th. we may be just looking at the beginning here. >> true. if you look at the u.s. state department issued a travel warning, more or less 24 hours before this attack or about 22 hours before this attack, warning u.s. citizens about the dangers of travel to places inside of turkey and especially in southeastern turkey. so that may be the case. you know, i would be -- i think it's important for all of us to keep our wits about us because even if there are more threats,

we have very capable intelligence agencies that are very very good at targeting the threats and taking them down. we often don't hear about those success stories. so i think we sometimes have candidates which we just heard there that engage in a lot of fear and other sorts of rhetoric and i think where the rubber hits the road in dealing with threats like this is keeping our wits about us and actually trusting in the agencies that we have to keep us safe and having a measured approach to it. >> nice to have you on the phone, brian. thank you. >> thank you. after a quick break, a live report from richard engel after this. ntaneously, ntaneously, so why pause to take a pill? or stop to find a bathroom? cialis for daily use, is the only daily tablet approved to treat erectile dysfunction so you can be ready anytime the moment is right. plus cialis treats the frustrating urinary symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently, day or night. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex.

do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, or adempas for pulmonary hypertension, as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or any symptoms of an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use. many men aren't aware their health insurance may cover cialis. contact your health plan for e latest information.

is happening now at red lobster. summerfest and if you love lobster d shrimp ...check out all these new entrees. like new coastal lobster and shrimp... ...with summer ale barbeque sauce, ...and new lobster and shrimp overboard.

overboard? nah, ...it's just right. so hurry in. we are continuing to follow the breaking news out of turkey. here's what we know right now. suicide bombers have hit the istanbul airport. turkey's largest airport. the death toll now standing at 28 people, although there are some reports that number could go higher, with at least 60 people wounded. no groups have as yet claimed responsibility. joining me from istanbul outside the airport, nbc's richard engel. richard, we were just -- >> reporter: i'm inside. >> can you hear me? >> reporter: i can, yes, go ahead. there's a little bit of a delay. i was just getting some new information about the sequence of attacks but go ahead. >> no, no. please tell us what you know. >> reporter: so i was just being

told that there were witnesses say there were three attacks. the first one in the parking lot, that the attacker had an ak-47 and started firing. then blew himself up. that drew security to him. then the other two attackers approached and were much closer, one at the arrivals area where the taxi stand is, and that when he blew up his device, that created even more confusion and that the third attacker was able to get inside by the meeting point, a kiosk where it says meeting point so tourists can find each other and set off his third device. we are hearing that same report we discussed earlier, that one of the attackers was noticed by police, started yelling suicide bomber, suicide bomber. he tried to stop him, tried to tackle him, but it was too late. the bomb went off and the police

officer was killed. we have heard that account from two people now >> tell me your reporting from u.s. counterterrorism folks, i think you had one official telling you about potentially a group of people who were responsible or who were devising this attack? >> reporter: i was told that it is highly likely related to an earlier report. several weeks ago, we reported that there was a concern, specific bit of intelligence that u.s. officials were worried that isis had deployed more than 35 attackers from syria into turkey with the objective of carrying out attacks during the muslim holy month of ramadan. at the time it was never clear if their objective would be to carry out attacks exclusively in turkey or if they would try and use this country as a springboard to launch other international level attacks.

today, after this incident, a security source told me that it was highly likely that this attack was related to that deployment of the 35 militants and that it is possible that this could be just the beginning of a series of attacks as the holy month of ramadan winds down because if their objective was to carry out attacks during ramadan, there was only about a week of ramadan left. >> richard, i'm so conscious of the families that are getting horrible news tonight. do we know any more about casualties, about wounded, how people are doing? >> reporter: the only definitive information is coming out of the governor's office here. he has upped the death toll several times. i'm not even sure where it stands right now but it was approaching 50, according to an a.p. report just a short while ago. the u.s. state department has said that american diplomatic

personnel in this city are accounted for and that the embassy is doing its best to see if american citizens were caught up in this violence, but at this stage, i don't have information about the nationalities of the people who were killed. >> and just finally, we are getting word that the airport you are standing in front of is now closed to flights until tomorrow, until june 29th. i see activity behind you but that's not travelers. >> reporter: yeah. this is not travelers. there are checkpoints all around here. as we were discussing earlier, it took about an hour's worth or maybe even two hours' worth of driving just to get where i am right now. there were checkpoints miles away from the airport, some of them impromptu with cars just blocking the road and uniform and plain clothes officers with guns looking in vehicles. we have been told this airport will be closed at least until

8:00 in the morning local time tomorrow. >> richard engel on the ground in istanbul, thank you so much for all of your reporting this afternoon and evening. appreciate it. hillary clinton has now made a statement about the istanbul terrorist attacks. this is the first we have heard from the democratic presumptive nominee. she says and i quote, terrorists have struck again in the heart of one of our nato allies and all americans stand united with the people of turkey against this campaign of hatred and violence. already stories of heroism on the part of turkish police are emerging as their quick actions to confront the suspects may have prevented an even worse tragedy. today's attack in istanbul only strengthens our resolve to defeat the forces of terrorism and radical jihadism around the world. it reminds us that the united states cannot retreat, we must deepen our cooperation with our allies and partners in the middle east and europe to take on this threat. such cooperation is essential to protecting the homeland and keeping our country safe.

our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families and the turkish people. again, quoting a new statement just out from hillary clinton's campaign. joining me now from the white house, nbc's ron allen. ron, we learned earlier that the president has been briefed and is closely following the situation. >> reporter: indeed, kate. just to read further between the lines of that clinton statement that you just were given, note that she emphasizes turkey is a member of nato. turkey is the only muslim country that's a member of nato. she also says that it's a time to deepen our cooperation with our partners and not retreat which is obviously, could be interpreted as a statement against what donald trump has talked about banning muslims, so on and so forth. here at the white house, they have also in the past emphasized when there have been attacks in turkey that it is a muslim country. 90% or more. and that although this was an attack apparently at the international terminal, it's likely that a number of the victims are muslims.

and they pointed that out to emphasize that in fact, that is what -- they are the enemies of isis as well. so that's something the white house tried to emphasize and make clear that muslims are on the front line in the attack against isis for the most part, although of course, american national security is paramount. one thing about claims of responsibility as well, looking back, a number of analysts pointed out that in the past in attacks, when attacks have come in turkey, isis has not immediately claimed responsibility, though they have been pointed to as the possible culprits. why? because it doesn't work to isis' political advantage to claim responsibility for an attack in a muslim country. so that might be one thing to watch for as we go forward to try and determine who's responsible or not, although clearly a lot of analysts are saying this points to -- has all the hallmarks of an isis attack. we may want to see how they handle this notion of claims of responsibility and so forth. but yes, here at the white house, they are watching

developments very very closely. >> ron allen at his perch at the white house, thank you very much. we will have much more coverage of these attacks in turkey, including new video we are just getting in of the aftermath of this attack after a quick break. there's a more enjoyable way to get your fiber.

try phillips' fiber good gummies plus energy support. it's a fiber supplement that helps support regularity, and includes b vitamins to help convert food to energy. mmm, these are good! nice work phillips'. the tasty side of fiber, from phillips. real is touching a ray. amazing is moving like one. real is making new friends. amazing is getting this close. real is an animal rescue. amazing is over twenty-seven thousand of them.

there is only one place where real and amazing live. seaworld. real. amazing

occurring. >> if we go back to what richard engel told us, there was a man with an ak-47 firing and that person detonated a suicide vest or device and he said there were two others, one in the arrivals area near the taxi stands and the third inside the airport. we would surmise that maybe that video that we just looked at was from the third attacker. >> right. we now also know from that video we showed earlier in the hour at the top of the hour that that third attacker was shot and dropped by authorities, by police. this could be that third bomber.

again, that third bomber was taken down by authorities before he was able to detonate his explosives away from a crowd of people. >> it is disconcerting to see all those people running away. you don't know how many were not able to get far enough away. cal, thank you for bringing us all this. all day you have been bringing us the latest video. appreciate that. our coverage continues of today's attack in turkey. we will go to bill neely just after a break. ything you're etty good at now, you were once, well, pretty bad at. but you learned. and got better. at expern, we believe it's the same with managing your credit. you may not be good at it now. but that's okay. because credit isn't just a score. it's a skill. and you can get better. experian. be better at credit. introduces new, easy-to-swallow tablets.

so now, there are more ways, for more people... to experience... complete protection from frequent heartburn. nexium 24hr. the easy-to-swallow tablet is here. your insurance company won't replace the full value of your totaled new car. the guy says, "you picked the wrong insurance plan." no, i picked the wrong insurance company. with new car replacement, we'll replace the full value of your car plus depreciation. liberty mutual insurance. this is todd hardy. a fitness buff, youth baseball coach-and lung cancer patient. the day i got the diagnosis, i was just shocked. the surgeon in dallas said i needed to have the top left lobe of my lung removed. i wanted to know what my other options were. and i found that at cancer treatment centers of america. at ctca, our experts examine a variety of therapies, treatments and technologies to identify a plan specifically for each patient. my doctor understood that who i am was just as important as what cancer i had. we talked about options. my dtor told me about a robotic surgery

that was less invasive. we have excellent technology that allow specialized procedures for patients who have lung disease. at ctca, it's all about what you can do. i feel fantastic now. exploring treatment options is at the heart of h we fight cancer. the evolution of cancer care is here. learn more about our treatt cancercenter.com/lung. appointments available now.

it's easy to love your laxative when that lax loves your body back. only miralax hydrates, eases and softens to unblock naturally, so you have peace of mind from start to finish. love your laxative. miralax.

the u.n. secretary general condemning today's terrorist attacks in istanbul. nbc's bill neely, our chief global correspondent, is following the latest developments from our london newsroom. bill? >> good afternoon, kate. we do know that scores are dead and injured but there now are indications this may be the biggest attack in europe for some time, bigger even than the attack on the brussels airport. we have to be very careful with this. nbc cannot confirm any of these figures, but just monitoring the turkish media, the turkish broadcaster ntv is reporting that the number of wounded is now 106 and they reached that figure by citing hospital sources. there was also a senior government official earlier on quoted by the associated press who said the death toll was around 50. those figures would certainly exceed the casualty figures for

the brussels attacks. the vast majority of the dead at the airport according to that official are turkish, although there are some foreigners among the dead. a senior turkish official again quoted by the associated press says all initial indications are that isis is behind this. no one has yet claimed this attack but obviously suspicion falls on two groups, isis and also kurdish separatists. turkey and istanbul tonight braced for more and angry, whoever did this clearly had a triple purpose, not just to kill as many people as possible, but to damage turkey's vital tourist industry and also to send a message to turkey's leaders, you can bomb us but we can strike back in the heart of your biggest city, as they did tonight. no word yet on any american casualties. the secretary of state john

kerry says officials are still trying to work out exactly who attacked the airport and who the casualties are. kate? >> those numbers are staggering. bill neely, at this point, as you say, no claim of responsibility but a lot of suspicion. >> yeah, that's right. and it's not unusual for isis not to claim responsibility immediately. often they will wait in order to get any other operatives that they had at the airport back to a safe house or a safe place. so you know, the silence doesn't indicate anything and the same would go for kurdish separatists as well. both groups, both isis and the kurds, have in the last year attacked istanbul. there have been at least four attacks in the city. there has also been an attack on the other airport at istanbul. it is obviously a prime target.

but we have to wait until perhaps the day light hours to get a claim from any terror group and to have a clearer idea on the final death toll. >> that does it for my coverage this hour. "hardball" starts right now. good evening. i'm chris matthews in new york with an update on today's terrorist attack in turkey. at least 28 people were killed and another 60 injured when at least three terrorists blew themselves up at the istanbul airport. witnesses say they first opened fire with automatic weapons. we have new footage that appears to show the explosions, though nbc news has not independently confirmed this. we should warn you, it is graphic. i it's security video that appears to show one of the gunmen being shot by police, falling down and then detonating his