the prime minister talk about what is going on there right now. check on with our coverage on c.w. 18. michelle: thanks for joining us. have a good day. >> t wel take a break, allow our stations to reset. we'll be back with you in a second. good morning. breaking news. terror in brussels. powerful explosions rocking the airport and the city subway system overnight. reports of at least 15 people killed. dozens more injured. this morning, the chilling images from inside the airport and underground, as passengers are evacuated from train cars through darkened and smokey tunnels. a senior counter-terror official this morning telling nbc news, isis, the terror group, is likely behind the attacks. the hunt for suspects is

22nd, 2016. good morning, everybody. welcome to this edition of "today" on tuesday morning. i'm savannah guthrie alongside matt lauer. we're covering this breaking news out of belgium. the prime minister said this is a terror attack, a dark moment for his country. what we feared ed ed ed ed has happened. >> someone or someones went up to the airport area, detonated one device outside of the building. someone else, apparently a suicide bomber inside the terminal, packed with morning commuters. people lining up to catch flights to other parts of europe and parts of the world. near a starbucks, waiting to get coffee. standing side by side, everyone with a backpack, suitcase or package, when the explosion ripped through the terminal. the devastation is apparent for

at least 15 people confirmed killed. this is an area of an airport where you haven't gone through security yet. you pull up in a car, get off a bus. one of our colleagues from msnbc said, he came up from a rail system beneath into the great hall, the departures terminal, when the explosion had gone off. no one had been screened for security. >> as we speak to counter-terrorism officials, like they say, this is a soft target. little to no security. as we said at busy airport situations, this would be presecurity. maybe some but not what we flight. >> a short time later, another soft target with little security, a metro train el s -- brussels. you're looking at video of the

ed forced to evacuate the train after the bomb went off, maybe their way aboveground. >> to add context, brussels is the seat of the european union's government. it has also become a hot bed for terrorist activity and planning, as we learned after the paris attack. the cell most of the attackers came from the neighborhood in brussels known as molenbeek. we just had the arrest of one of the paris suspects, salah abdeslam in the last few days. he's been interrogated by authorities. unclear how much cooperation he's given. this morning, the key question is, what and to what extent his arrest, this man's arrest, may have to do with what we're seeing this morning in brussels. >> other accomplices in that area fear that after he was arrested, as we look at images inside the metro in brussels,

after he was arrested, he would divulge information their locations, their identities? did that force them to carry out these plans before they had intended to? we've got complete coverage. beginning with keir simmons. what can you tell us? >> matt, good morning. clearly coordinated and terrifying series of events in the heart of europe. brussels airport rocked by explosions at around 8:00 a.m. then the metro hit close to the seat of european government. the city is now in lockdown. transportation shut down. with images emerging that tell a story of substantial blasts causing extensive damage. you can see here, matt and savannah, passengers from the airport being evacuated. the images you saw earlier of the blast inside the airport and the blast on a subway train speaks to a very, very serious, substantial explosive device

the belgium prime minister now saying that he believes that at the airport, it was a suicide bomb. at the metro, it was a package of some kind. he is saying what we feared has happened. this morning, the u.s. embassy is urging u.s. citizens not to use public transportation in brussels. there are troops on the streets of that city. as officials, matt and savannah, scramble to establish whether more attacks are planned. whether, as you mentioned, this is connected to the arrest of salah abdeslam, who was wanted in connection with the paris attacks. it is in a suburb of brussels that many of the paris attackers from last november came from. the question this morning, are these attacks connected to that same network of isis affiliated jihadists? >> keir simmons, stay there. we'll go back to you as we follow these developments.

justice correspondent, pete williams, who talked to his sources this morning. pete, anything new you can add to this? >> a couple of points. one is we're expecting a statement shortly that, apparently, will come out of the white house. noting that the government is well aware of this. they're assessing and trying to decide what to do. there's been no formal guidance to airports or subway stations or train stations in the united states from the u.s. government. there have been internal messages from the usual places that keep these operations informed of attacks. these messages have been flowing for the past several hours, to let the operators of airports, train stations, subway stations in the u.s. know what happened, give the best information they have and urge them to take appropriate precautions. the security of all those facilities is not a federal matter. it's in the hands of local authorities. we only know of one specific plan to do anything in response, and that is not surprisingly in new york.

says it is going to have a very aggressive and visible presence today at subway stations, train stations, bridges and tunnels. but we have not yet heard of any specific plans by airports in the u.s. to adjust their security measures in response to the attacks in brussels. whether they will restrict travel, restrict curbside check-in, whether they will restrict cars getting near the airport. we don't have any word of any of that yet. but in the hours to come, those local airports are going to be making those decisions. coincidentally, the administrator of tsa that is responsible for the aviation security was actually in brussels for scheduled meetings with european officials. he's obviously been in touch with people here about what he knows. but because of the uncertainty of who is responsible for this,

trying to decide what the best steps are. we're told there will be a white house statement coming shortly, though we don't expect a great deal of substance in it. >> pete williams, thank you. we got a note, the u.s. officials briefed on intelligence tell nbc they've been expecting these attacks, or some kind of attack in europe after what happened in paris, that they're struck initially, not as coordinated or sophisticated as what we saw in paris. yet, we see they were able to inflict a lot of damage. let's go to tom costello who covers aviation for us. also very familiar with this airport, with this region. he has family that lived there many, many years. what can you add? >> a couple things. delta airlines flight 80, atlanta to brussels, is sitting on the ramp, unable to move the people off the plane because it is mass chaos on the ground at the airport. you've seen all these people being evacuated from the airport tarmac or rather the terminal out on to the ramp. the numbers of people, hundreds, even thousands of people,

it's not easy because there are no trains, there are no busses, there are no taxis, there are no subways. everything in the city is shut down. additionally, delta airlines 42, new york to brussels, has been diverted to amsterdam. both of the planes, we're told, are safe. to give you perspective, brussels airport is in zaventem, a small town -- actually my in-laws live right there. seven miles from downtown brussels. we can tell you there is train service and subway service also into that airport. when you talk about the entire subway system also being shut down following the terrorist attack on the subway system, this paralyzes the entire region. i also wanted to make note of the fact the european air traffic control headquarters is on the backside of the brussels airport. that, according to some video we've seen this morning, has been surrounded by heavily armed

about 20,000 people work at that airport alone, and it is not necessarily the biggest in europe but certainly is a critical airport, serving as the gateway into the capital of europe, but also, of course, as a gateway to the united states and into africa and across europe. there are the subway pictures we've been watching this morning throughout the morning. >> tom, stand by there. we'll check back in in a moment. nbc news analyst sean henry, the former executive assistant director of the fbi joins us now. the investigators now, law enforcement now in brussels and belgium at large have two major jobs. one, they have to try to prevent anything further from happening. two, they've got to begin the investigation as to how this happened. where do they begin? >> both of those things are really kind of locked together. as they continue this investigation, they're going to be developing intelligence of who might have been involved. they're coming on the backside of what happened with abdeslam.

collecting from that. absolutely, the top priority will be preventing any further attacks. again, matt, it really starts with identifying who these cohorts are here, what they're pulling out of their ongoing investigation. there have been hundreds of searches. there have been dozens of arrests in the weeks preceding this. there's a lot of intelligence there that investigators will be combing through to try to put the pieces of the puzzle together. >> when you see the images, sean, especially those images inside the departures terminal at the airport, what's your first thought, your gut reaction? >> this looks like a catastrophic attack, and it looks like a large payload. it's very unclear what type of device this was. i think about people in an airport. we've all been there, pulling a large suitcase behind them. that could potentially conceal explosive device that's a lot more substantial than what you might see on a suicide vest, a

again, unclear how the explosion was concealed, how it was brought in, how it was device was. it certainly appears, just from preliminary looking at this, that it was larger than what we've typically seen with suicide vests. >> you hate to put it in these terms, but is this is attack that would be hard or easy for somebody to pull off? >> you know, when you think about planning that goes into this, there's coordination because you've got multiple sites, multiple events. you have a group of people who have to conceal their communications to try and stay below the radar. there is a sense of sophistication in that. especially when there's been so many arrests in the preceding weeks, searches, et cetera. they're trying to evade police while continuing to plan and execute this type of event. an airport, we talked about the soft targets, there certainly is security at airports before you get to the gates but, again,

cavernous areas. you get out of a car, taxi or bus, walking in, not a lot of security there. to that extent, not having to pass through traditional security devices, security check-points, there's a lot of vulnerability there, savannah. >> sean henry, thank you. stay by. we'll check back with you in a little while. >> we'll turn again to andrea mitchell, in havana traveling with president obama this morning. he was expected to give a big speech. has the president been briefed? >> the president has been briefed. susan rice, the national security adviser, is with him. the national security staff communicating, of course, back to washington and to all the intelligence officials. the director of national intelligence, james clapper, had recently testified about the high level of threat from isis and other groups. of course, wes don't know who the perpetrators were of this apparent suicide attack, but

some felt related to the arrest on friday of abdeslam in belgium. obviously, there's been a lot of criticism of the officials in belgium, as well as some criticism of the french officials. they have been trying to step up coordination since what happened in paris in november. as well, john kerry is here, and now the secretary of state did have a planned interview, we are told, with telemundo. he was doing spanish language television today. we don't know if that was going to happen. i was supposed to interview susan rice at 9:30 eastern today. we don't know if that'll still take place. they're scrambling now to re-write the president's speech today, to put out a statement and decide whether we see the president before his planned speech on cuban television. unprecedented event as that was to be, that was supposed to be his speech to the cuban people. he was going to broadly address the human rights issue here, which became such a point of contention, even in that

conference between raul castro, the president of cuba, and president obama yesterday. there's been a lot of firsts here. some of which may not now take place. whether they adjust the schedule, how they adjust the schedule, he's due to leave here this afternoon and go on to argentina, where they had a very important commemoration of the end of the so-called dirty war. i was told that there might well be declassification of the american cia in that dirty war in the '70s and '80s in argentina. there's a lot we don't know about the president's schedule, but he's been fully briefed. >> a lot of moving parts, as you suggest. andrea mitchell traveling with the president in havana, thank you. more details from keir simmons. what can you tell us? >> that's right. nbc news has confirmed that at the metro station, the blast there in central brussels, 15 people have been killed. as soon as you saw this picture,

carriages, you really feared that the extent of the deaths and injuries that might be cause bid somebody like that, and now we know. we're told 15 dead. we don't know how many have been killed at the airport. there, you can see pictures of other passengers fleeing, trying to get away. they know that an explosion has happened. they are evacuating from a carriage down the rail line, which you know is dangerous in itself. it gives you a sense of the panic that was caused. i was mentioning at the airport, we don't yet know how many people were killed there. reports from there, matt and savannah, suggest that that may be a high toll. certainly of injured. again, just looking at the pictures of that airport, the glass blown out, the debris strewn around, it's hard to imagine there haven't been a serious number of casualties from that. >> you look back at the images

there, that explosion apparently happened after that train had left a station. looks like it happened -- well, that looks close to a station, but the images we saw a second ago seem like people evacuating in a tunnel somewhere, away from the station, and trying to -- right here -- make their way aboveground. >> of course, the fear we'vemorning, that the death toll come to pass. at this hour, we know of 13 dead at the airport scene. now we're getting reports this morning that the numbers are rather high from the metro attack, as well. a brussels transit spokesperson saying 15 dead, as many as 55 injured at that attack at the subway station. we've been seeing these terrifying images of passengers evacuating in these dark and smokey tunnels. >> imagine what life is like for the people of brussels this morning. there is no air transportation in or out. there is no train service in or out. cell phone service is sketchy,

are allowed to text and use social media. clearly, life has come to a standstill, at least for this morning in brussels, belgium. >> we'll have more on these attacks. we'll continue to follow the breaking news and check in with our correspondents. we have new images and first-hand accounts of what has transpired there. we'll put it into context as we continue our breaking coverage. first, on a tuesday morning, this is toad on "today" on nbc. not quite. sometimes those seats are out of reach, costing an outrageous number of miles. it's time to switch... to the capital one venture card. with venture, you'll earn unlimited double miles on every purchase, every day. and when you're ready to travel, just book the flight you want, on any airline and use your miles to cover the cost. now that's more like it. what's in your wallet? grilled chicken and bush's baked beans. >>they're totally eating

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back on a tuesday morning with this special edition of "today" on the terror attacks in brussels. we want to go now to richard engel, who is our chief foreign correspondent. richard, i know you've been working the phones, finding out what you can on this. what can you tell us? >> it seems there were one senior u.s. counterterrorism official told me this seems to be a complex and coordinated attack. that this was not the work of a group of amateurs. that this was a sophisticated terrorist attack. that there were two explosions at the airport, terminal b at the airport. one of them inside the check-in terminal. unclear how many killed, but there are reports of at least 11, maybe 13 or more killed there. then about an hour after the airport attack, the airport attack happening around 0800 in

the other attack happening at 9:00 a.m. local time, at the metro station. u.s. embassy personnel were not, frankly, located that far away. also, there is a nato headquarters also not far away. being told to shelter in place. very difficult for the people who are living in brussels right now to move around, to communicate. cell phone has been spotty. it makes people feel, well, we've been in contact with through text messages, police officers had all the major intersections and cross roads leading in and out of brussels, trying to make sure they're

make sure someone they may be looking for doesn't slip through. it happened after the paris terror attacks. the city of brussels is on lockdown after the attacks. >> now western europe on high alert. many, many areas of transportation have been paused, as well.

give ourgi >> local, live, late-breaking, this is a wesh 2 news update. brett: it is now 7:26 a.m. seminole county set these -- deputies are targeting drugs who got away with the belongings of across the street from ucf. jazmin: there was no art school fire in a small closet at the -- at a hotel. ted: to crashes off to the side of 436 was found. a big backup, going through seminole county. our camera is on the westbound side. everybody stopping to take a look at this. 16 to 18 minutes

amy: it is a lot colder this morning, compared to yesterday. mid-30' s right after the north. 36 in ocala. where 31 in the villages. 35 in daytona and melbourne. colder to start, not as windy as yesterday. will stay sunny and dry throughout the day today. the windows are coming off the ocean. that will keep us a little cooler on the coast today. in one spot to make it to the mid. along the coast, lower 70' s. 75 in orlando in clermont. tomorrow, wind out of the 70' s. we will get back to 80 degrees. a couple of clouds, and toward the end of the week, some changes. by thursday, maybe some isolated showers. they will roll back in. friday and saturday, scattered

let some of the stations now join us. 7:30 now on a tuesday morning. it's the 22nd day of march, 2016. this is a special edition of "today" as we cover this morning's deadly terror attacks in brussels, belgium. explosions both at the airport and in metro stations. >> that's right. the death toll now stands at this hour, at least 28 people. 13 killed at the airport. 15 in the subway attack. we're now seeing the first images coming in of the damage and devastation. that image appears to be a train car. we've seen some terrifying images coming out of the airport, as well. >> we haven't had that image

that we have images of the scenes of devastation at brussels airport. where someone apparently set off one device. we've been told by brussels authorities or belgium authorities that these were suicide bombers. one outside the departures terminal. one inside the great hall. those are the scenes from inside the departure terminal, where just after 8:00 this morning, thousands of people would have been waiting, lining up to check in for flights. everybody in the area would have had a suitcase with them or some sort of package. impossible to know who got what into that terminal. they were inside and created devastation. >> this is a city, a country, whole region that has been on edge since the paris attacks of late last year. the prime minister of belgium, charles michel, saying our worst

confirming it was a terror attack. indeed, in the case of the airport, the chief prosecutor in belgium saying it's believed to be a suicide attack. we don't know what nature yet. >> you bring up the paris attacks of november 13th. there's already an image making its way around social media this morning of the french people comforting the belgium people with the dates of these two terror attacks underneath. the people draped in the flags. that image right there. november 13 and march 22. the dates of the attacks both in paris and now in belgium. we're going to talk to some witnesses who were at the airport and forced to evacuate. also, we'll be joined by donald trump, the front runner on the republican presidential side to get his take on what's happening this morning. we want to begin this hour with nbc's justice correspondent pete williams. pete, i think if you can help us put this into some timing perspective, because these attacks come four days after the

said to be the guy who planned the paris attacks. they have him in custody. they've been trying to talk to him. unclear as to what, if any, information he's been giving them. >> right. and how dependable that information is. the question here today is, matt, was this an attack that had well been planned in advance and just happened to be carried out a few days after his arrest, or as is more likely, was pressure on this group in belgium causing them to accelerate a plan that they had been thinking about in advance, or simply take whatever devices they had and head to the airport and head to the subway with some intend ed intended plan to do this at the same time? that's what they're trying to figure out today. >> pete, can i ask you an obvious question? they have him in custody. are the rules the same in belgium as they are here in the united states, in terms of what he is allowed to do in terms of

the belgium authorities are allowed to do in trying to get information from him? >> no, they're not the same. they can hold people there, in many european countries, and continue to interrogate them charges. he will face specific charges, but the so-called miranda rule you're talking about here, about statements used against you, that's generally the rule but country. for intelligence gathering purposes, they can try to ask whatever they want, as long as they don't use the evidence in court. that's the general rule in many western countries. in terms of the response here in the u.s., the white house has put out a statement saying the president has been briefed. the justice department has a statement saying the authority ing ing ing ing the attorney general has been briefed. they emphasize a couple things. one, there is no intelligence warning of any kind of attacks in the u.s. along these lines. there have been no directives

airports in the u.s. or trains or subways, telling them or urging them or recommending precautions. nonetheless, a lot of information about these attacks has been shared with federal authorities and their local counterparts. they're keeping them informed and unto date and many are responding on their own. in washington, d.c., our metro on desk. exclose explosive sniffing dogs, more visible security. subway. watch for suspicious packages and report anything you think is suspicious. in new york, the police are going to have to have a much more visible and aggressive presence at tunnels, bridges, subways, trains, commuter facilities and at airports. i don't think that the travel experience for travelers in the u.s. flying today will be

undoubtedly, they'll see a lot more security. there's going to be a lot more sharing of intelligence that people won't see as this plays out in the next 24 to 48 hours. >> pete williams, our justice stick around. we'll be coming to you many times this morning. >> let's go to kelly koeb cobiella. brussels. stopped. she's now in a car. good morning. what can you tell us? >> good morning. i'm on the highway on the way into brussels. hopped in a cab from the train station in france. if, in fact, the borders are closed somehow by highway, there's no sign of it as yet. the taxi driver, happy to take me into brussels. traffic is flowing here. we've been told at some point, this will stop. that we won't be able to get into the country. we're testing out that theory now. yes, as i was on my way into

attacks had already happened. the explosions had already happened at the airport. we were stopped about 20 minutes outside of brussels and told that it was for security reasons. shortly thereafter, the train station in central brussels was evacuated. the train station was closed, and we were turned around and sent back to france. as it stands, we're trying to get our way in. as i mentioned earlier, the difficult. the metro lines are shut down. the trains have been shut down. airport is shut down. it's become very difficult to get into the city. >> i can only imagine the situation there, kelly. keep us posted. look forward to your report as you arrive there at the scene. >> nbc's tom costello has new information on the attacks and the impact on the airlines and airports. tom, before you get to that, i want to say, you also have a different perspective. as i do, you have close

yourself. in particular, you've spent a lot of time at that airport. >> well, this one hits close to home for me. my wife and kids are belgian. they have dual nationality. my wife used to work at the brussels airport. i went to graduate school in brussels and used to live there. we have been in and out for 25 years. we know it well. when you look at those images right there of the brussels terminal, that is a devastating impact impact. from having been there firsthand, i don't see them recovering from this in 24 hours as they initially suggested. this looks like the entire departure level of the brussels airport has been obliterated by a massive bomb or bombs. this is going to be a significant blow to not only air travel in and out of brussels -- and by the way, that's the shot right there. the starbucks right next to it, to the right if you will in the picture, is where we believe the bomb went off. or close to it. those are ceiling tiles that

terminal down to the ground. there you have the concourses throughoutjammed and packed with people fleeing out on to the ramps and tarmacs. an update on the status of american airlines flights going into brussels. american airlines flight 751, scheduled to depart from brussels into philly, that's been cancelled. flights into brussels, delta 80, atlanta to brussels, is on the ramp and holding in brussels. they don't want to deplane the passengers because of the chaos and security scene on the ground. the passengers who have been on the ground for several hours are staying on the ground. delta flight 42, new york to brussels, has been diverted to amsterdam. nunt united 950 landed at 7:01. that would suggest the passengers may have been in the terminal at the time of the

you're looking at a shot there, live air traffic control look at the traffic in and around brussels. the brussels airport being shut down. what you're seeing there are planes going over the top of brussels but certainly not landing in brussels. united 999, newark to brussels, has been, we are told, rerouted to a remote location. i don't know if that's on the ramp in brussels or another airport. a military airport or something. i simply don't know. that's united 999. safe and on the ground at this hour. one other point, i would tell you, the miami international airport has just advised us that because of the concerns about the con possibility of another attack on this side of the ocean, miami is increasing the use of canines today. more uniformed officers in the miami airport. more behavior detection units

random patrols and perimeter patrols, random screening and checkpoints, a roving checkpoint situation throughout the miami airport. i wouldn't be surprise first-degree if you see that throughout the united states airports. >> my sister-in-law and brother-in-law there there outside of belgium. schools are in session there, which is surprising to me. they're a few miles from downtown brussels. schools in session. some parts of life remain normal there this morning, tom. >> you consider -- and i have my cousins who are the same ages as my kids, who are going to school in belgium. you might consider, there is no place safer for them right now than to keep them in school rather than out on the streets. in belgium the most of europe, kids routinely ride the subways to and from school, and the trains. to keep them in school, in a safe environment, makes sense. i'm sure, just as you have, i've

messaging all morning from my family and friends in europe, checking in that they're okay. clearly, we have a situation where many people are apparently very seriously injured or have been killed in brussels this morning. >> this happened at 8:00 local time. may be that some kids were already in school at that hour and being told to stay put, especially since transportation is such a challenge now. we want to turn to an msnbc contributor, steve. he happened to be at the brussels airport at the time of the attack. good morning. we spoke to you earlier so we know you're doing well physically. >> good morning. >> what did you see? what did you hear? >> basically, i was at the airport to be there early to get back to washington. i'd come up from the train. i'd left brussels north train station this morning, got to the

minutes or within a minute to r so after -- or so after the blast. i saw the smoke and chaos but i wasn't able to get too close. i'm sitting next to gentlemen on the train who were literally -- that's mine. sorry. right now, a lot of tension, even on the train i'm on, about people worrying about bags. my bag was here. there's tension everywhere. a lot of chaos this morning. went back to brussels north station. at that point, we began to hear rumors about the bombs that had gone off in the subway station. things tensed up. security got very tight. i was able to get what seems to have been the last train out of belgium. >> steve, thank you very much. >> thank you, matt. >> if you can add anything, please get back to us real soon. again, to recap, we have a devastating scene in brussels, belgium this morning. both at the airport and in a

of brussels. where several explosions have gone off. at least two at the airport. at least one in the metro. at least 25 or 28 people now confirmed dead. many others injured. the scenes you're looking at now of extreme damage to that subway train there. also inside that departure terminal at the airport, where what is being called a suicide bomb was detonated. not sure if it's what we've come to expect or imagine, with someone walking into a terminal wearing a belt or some kind of a vest. the people we've spoken to this morning who are more expert at things like this than we are, have looked at those scenes of devastation and said it appears to them this was a larger device. perhaps carry ied into that departure terminal in a suitcase, a box, maybe a backpack. obviously with devastating impact. >> somewhat coordinated, as there's more than one attack. that is the image we've been

devastation of a metro car. we now know at least 15 were killed in that attack at the metro station. 13 at the airport. dozens more injured. belgium's prime minister saying this is a dark hour for that country. >> we'll have the latest in the investigation ahead. and get donald trump's take on the events when he joins us live after this. with your friends & family savings pass! shop friday night owls and saturday early birds... and dress them up with 40 to 60% off dresses kid's dressy apparel... and new shoes for the whole family. for him - save 45 to 55% on a crisp new dress shirt and tie. and pick up a new spring handbag at 50% off. everyone gets kohl's cash too! now that's the good stuff. kohl's. never. psssssh. guaranteed. you picked a beautiful ring. thank you. we're never having kids. mmm-mmm. breathe.

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good morning and welcome back to a special edition of "today", as we cover these terror attacks in brussels. at least 28 people have been killed in suicide attacks. one took place at the airport there. another at a metro station. >> this heightens concerns at airports and public transportation here in the united states. we can tell you that president obama has been briefed on the situation, as you know, he's traveling in havana. national security is a key issue in the presidential race. republican front runner donald trump joins us by phone. good morning to you.

>> often, people talk about a president getting that 2:00 a.m. or 3:00 a.m. phone call when something tragic has happened, either here at home or around the world. so let's go to the hypothetical situation. president trump gets that 2:00 a.m. phone call. what would you have done? >> first of all, you know, this is a subject that is very dear and near to my heart. because i've been talking about it certainly much more than anybody else. it's why i'm probably number one in the polls, because of the fact that i say we have to have strong borders. we have to be very vigilant and careful who we allow into our country. i know brussels well. brussels is a total mess. brussels is a -- i'm not talking about the attack today -- i'm talking about generally speaking, it's a city that used to be one of the finest, most beautiful and one of the safest cities in the world. now, it's a catastrophic, very dangerous city where the police have little control.

>> it's too bad. >> what would you have done first as president of the united states if you got this call? >> well, as president, i would do probably what i would have been doing for the period of time that i was president. i would be very, very tough on the borders. i would be not allowing certain people to come into this country without absolute perfect documentation. we're allowing thousands of people already to come into our country. they don't have proper documentation. we don't know where they're coming from. they happen to come from, perhaps, syria, but nobody really knows. they have no idea of telling because they don't have the documentation. >> which people would you exclude? on what basis? how would you make that determination? >> i would exclude the people coming in from syria that don't have documentation, coming in from the migration line. interestingly, they have cell phones in many cases. you say, how did they get the cell phones and where do they get their bills paid? i would exclude those people from coming in. the assimilation has been a

you go to paris and you go to brussels and you go to other cities, you look at what's happening there with germany, with merkel's brilliant move to allow over 1 million people to pour into germany. it's not working. it's turning out to be catastrophic catastrophic. >> they have in belgium a guy by the name of salah abdeslam in custody now. he's said to be the man who planned the paris attacks of november 13th. he's in custody. what would you say would be appropriate in terms of what they can do to him at this moment to get any information they can about possible further attacks? >> well, i would say they should be able to do whatever they have to do. they have to get the information. i would say they should be able to do whatever they have to do. >> be specific. >> the laws are so liberal over there. they won't do that. but they should be able to do whatever they have to do to get him to give the information. the very sad thing is, he was

people that were a few doors away from where he lived. they were protecting him, and they were guarding him. it was lucky they were able to find him. he was planning another attack. but they didn't find him because people turned him in. those people were guarding him and protecting him. that's not supposed to be the way the system works. >> when you say do whatever they have to do, can you be specific? what do you mean by that? >> i'm not looking for breaking news on your show, but the waterboarding, if it was up to me, and if we changed the laws -- or have the laws, waterboarding would be fine. if they want to do -- as long as it's with -- because we work within laws. they don't work within laws. they have no laws. we work within laws. the waterboarding would be fine. if they can expand the laws, i would do more than waterboarding. you have to get the information from these people, and we have to be smart and be tough. we can't be soft and weak, which is what we are right now. when i say we, i'm talking about other countries, also.

the interrogations, you often time a division. some people think that harsh interrogation technique works and will deliver you the information, and others say it doesn't work. you'll get false information. are you in the camp that harsh interrogation, let's use the word, torture, works in a case like this? >> yes, i am. i am in that camp. i don't believe the other people. i'm in that camp, absolutely. they'll read him his rights. he'll sit there with a good lawyer. the lawyer won't give -- ten years will go by. by the time it goes by, he won't know anything because the world will have moved on to a worse place. i am in the camp where you have to get the information, and you have to get it rapidly. >> let's keep in mind, draw the distinction here, abdeslam is being held by belgium law enforcement, not by a military unit or by some intelligence service, like was the case in this country when the cia took suspects to secret sites in other countries.

>> he's being held by whoever. let the military take him over. they have to get their act together. belgium is no longer belgium. belgium is not the belgium you and i knew, matt, from 20 year ago, which was one of the most beautiful and safest cities in the world. belgium is a horror show right now. terrible things are happening. people are leaving. people are afraid. this all happened because, frankly, there's no assimilation. they are not assimilating. they're not assimilating in other locations either. >> just a couple of seconds -- >> they want sharia law. they don't want laws that we have. they want sharia law. you know, you say to yourself, at what point? how much of this do you take? we're allowing thousands and thousands of these people into our country. we're going to have nothing but problems, as sure as you're sit tlg. >> in the 30 seconds i have left, what would you say to the american people on a morning like this? >> i would say to the american

very strong. we are going to be very ville gilant and tough. we're not going to allow it to happen to our country. if it happens, we'll find the people who did it and they'll suffer greatly. >> donald trump, thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you very much. >> we also asked democratic front runner hillary clinton to join us this morning, and she declined. >> by the way, president obama has been briefed by his national security team. we mentioned he is traveling in havana,xpected to give a major speech there. we watch what unfolds in brussels, belgium. the heart of the european capital, at the airport and subway station. we have reports of 28 people who perished this morning. dozens of others injured. as we sit back and take the toll once again of yet a terror attack on a major western capital. >> waking up to the images we all dread seeing in some major

we're going to take a break now, let some stations breakaway for their local news and weather. others, we'll be back with more of "today". >> local, live, late-breaking, this is a wesh 2 news update. brett: good morning. i' m brett connolly.

time now is 7:56. firefighters closely watching for flareups in avalon park. a brush fire burned 20 acres yesterday. a very high bar danger for a couple of our counties today. ted: a few crashes in the altamonte springs area. a bad location, just after 430 ec on the left side of your screen. just the 436 on the left side of your screen. travel times on your screen, big trouble spot westbound, seminole and orange, and they should 12 minutes lake mary to lee. amy: a cold start this morning, much colder than yesterday. lies windy, but air temperatures in the mid to upper 30' s.

frosted visor in effect through 9:00 a.m. area high-pressure today. winds shifting out of the northeast, not as breezy. warmer, as well. lots of sunshine, dry air, low-to-mid 70' s. not quite back to normal yet. warmer than yesterday' s mid 60' s. 75 in orlando,

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and get big savings. start shopping with walmart's every day low prices today. and see what you could save. good morning. we have breaking news. this is a special edition of "today" and these are the chilling images out of brussels, belgium this morning. the scene of devastating terror attacks, apparently coordinated. at least 11 people killed in a suicide bombing at the airport. at least are 15 others killed in system. now. what can you tell us? >> matt, across europe, people have been braced for something like this. the belgium prime minister saying this morning, what we feared would happen has happened.

nay -- coordinated and terrifying series of attacks in europe. brussels airport rocked by the explosions around 8:00 a.m. then the metro, close to the european government. the city is in lockdown. transportation shutdown. images emerging that tells a story of substantial blasts, causing extensive damage. there you can see terrified passengers fleeing from metro cars, heading down what must be dangerous rail lines, just to get away from the explosion that has taken place in another carriage, in another part of that metro station. meanwhile, at the airport, the pictures we are seeing of windows blown out, of debris strewn around, tell a story of a substantial explosive device. you have to simply look at this to see that this was a serious

two blasts, we're being told by belgium officials. this is having a profound effect in europe. the president of france saying this morning, of course, france suffered its own attacks in november, saying this morning, through brussels attacks, the whole of europe has been hit. france will continue to relentlessly fight against terrorism, both internationally and internally. this morning, the belgium prime minister is telling people to stay in their area. the u.s. embassy urging u.s. citizens not to use public transportation. there are troops on the streets of brussels this morning. as officials scramble to establish whether more attacks are planned, matt and savannah, the people who carried out the november paris attacks, many of them came from brussels. one of them arrested just friday. the fear now is that this has

group who self-declared -- a self-declared isis terrorist cell. >> you brought up the paris attacks. if you remember, after the attacks in paris on november 13th, there were a lot of people who were stranded in that city with nowhere to go. on social media, the hashtag became popular, suggesting if you needed a place to go to find shelter, those people were offering shelter. something similar in brussels now, in belgium, after these attacks. #open house. keep in mind, a lot of people going to the airport this morning turned away after these attacks were not from belgium. they were trying to travel to their home countries and left with nowhere to go. people coming out of the subways couldn't get home. couldn't get to work. needed a place to find shelter. the #open house on social media

just as #port due vare did after the paris attacks on november 13th. >> a smokey terminal. let's go to pete williams, following this from washington. do you have extra information for us? if not, remind everybody the context in which this happens, in which you have abdeslam, who was, of course, involved in the paris attacks, arrested. people are concerned the attacks may have been connected to that. >> either as retaliation or plans that were in place that were accelerated because people involved with him felt that police were closing in on them. that's a big question for investigators who are trying to figure out who carried out these attacks. in terms of the united states, there is, we're told, today no intelligence indicating there were any plans like this to attack subways, trains or airports in the u.s. as a result, there has been no

government for those facilities to make any big changes. nonetheless, many major cities are already increasing security on their commuter trains, subway systems. we've been told in new york and here in washington and other big cities, you'll see much more visible security on subways and commuter trains. more of the bomb-sniffing dogs. more reminders for people to report anything they see suspicious. you're going to hear that, see something, say something message a lot in the coming days. in terms of airports, no recommendation to change security. there will be -- you're going to see more of those people in the airport areas. you're going to see those detectivers, the behavioral detecter people watching out for people. without intelligence to act on, there's no big change, i don't think, that travelers in the u.s. are going to see, other than more visible security.

airports, curbside check-in, being able to drive up to airports to drop people off, we haven't heard of any changes along those lines. the federal government continues to follow this with their counterparts in europe. everybody has been briefed. they're all talking to their european counterparts to get more information. that seems to be the picture so far this morning. >> by the way, you made a good point earlier, pete, when you were talking to us. security in airports is handled by the tsa. the exterior of airports, that is handled by local law enforcement. koins coincidence here, the new head belgium. >> the new transportation security administration was in brussels for previously scheduled meetings with his european counterparts. he's safe. there are federal air marshals in and out of that airport all the time. they're looking after anybody they need to watch for. you're right about security of airports, not only outside the airports but inside the

you get to the tsa check-point, all the security and the major waiting areas, the airline ticket counter check-in points, where you drop off your baggage, all of that security is the responsibility of the airport operator. the local authorities who run the airports. not the federal government. they certainly make recommendations. tsa's responsibility, the federal responsibility begins when you show your id and do the security screening. >> thank you very much. a wire service reporting there are house to house searches conducted. investigators looking for suspects or somebody with information in connection with the attacks. we'll turn to tom costello who covers aviation but is also familiar with belgium. his family is from there. we talked this morning earlier, tom, a bit about the situation in brussels. in particular, the molenbeek neighborhood of brussels, which

that has housed in recent days, the paris attackers, and also become something of a center of this islamist, radical activity. >> i think if you talk to bell belgans, and i know many of them, they feel they're losing their country. they have an open immigration policy over the last half century, and allowed almost anybody, sweeshl especially from the areas breeding terrorism, many are not thoroughly vetted. they're given a generous social stipend to live off of. many belgians feel like they're bearing the fruits of that policy. they are seeing this kind of terrorism in belgium. let me give you an update from the airport. we're hearing of 11 people dead at the airport.

it now appears the delta flight that was sitting on the ramp in brussels, in which they really did not want to deplane anybody, didn't want to deboard the poss passengers, they've now deplaned. the passengers are off the plane but not into the airport. they're out on the tarmac, out on the ramp. delta flight going to brussels earlier, 42, was diverted to amsterdam. a united flight has been cancelled -- pardon me -- a united flight 950 landed safely at 7:01. an hour before this attack occurred. i think what we're also seeing here on the metro attack is important, and i'll draw your attention to the fact that the date line or the locater before that metro attack explosion is different from molenbeek. molenbeek is where we've had the islamic extremism.

around the european union and the european commission headquarters. belgium is a tri-lingual country. you have an awful lot of phlegmish and french flame names. the brussels airport is in zaventem. that's why you see the phlegmish on the signs there. >> we're lucky to have you with us, tom. we have ryan heath joining us from brussels. he's the politico senior ue correspondent. lived in brussels for years. i'd like to have you to put this into perspective, and also the level of fear that the people of belgium have been living in over the past several months. >> to be honest, it's chaotic. i've been unable to get back to our offices. 150 yards from that metro station that was bombed. i'm back at my home, which is itself 300 yards from the

it has been chaotic this morning. you hear sirens in the background, people are being given contradictory instructions. it wasn't severe how all the activities were. some people are still locked up in the european union headquarters. others are told they have to go to work or they will be fired. there is confusion. you have the things in the airport where most people were evacuated. some were stuck at their gate. others like the delta passengers have been sitting on the plane until the last few minutes. it's been flying in all different directions. i think after four months of graf state vitate ing between the full terror lockdown in november and wondering when the authorities would catch abdeslam and his accomplices, it's been a difficult time for people here in brussels. they have started to lose some of their trust in how authorities are handling the situation. they're forced at times to rely

that's never the position you want to be in when you know the threats are out there. >> based on events of the past several months, even the past several years, there are not a lot of people there who would be surprised by something like this brewing in their town, but it actually happening? >> exactly. there is a resignation or weariness about the town. it doesn't mean that people lock themselves up in their homes, but in a sense, they know that this process isn't over and done with. they know that more than 90 people has trained and becomrade cal -- become radicalized in syria and came back to belgium. even if you catch the people behind the paris attacks, there were surely others still operating. we were warned that by the interior minister earlier this week. catching abdeslam doesn't mean the other terror cells were shut down. we were told to be on alert and, unfortunately, that's come true this morning.

politico's chief eu correspondent. thank you so much. >> pleasure. >> what he describes, adding to everything that's unfolded, can you imagine the chaos? some people tole, you have d, you have to get to work. school rs s are still in session yet the trains are shut down. cell service isn't available. this is trying hours for the people of brussels, bell gium belgium. we're back with more coverage in a moment. binge eating disorder, or b.e.d.,... ...isn't just overeating. it's a real medical condition. and while the exact cause is unknown... ...certain chemicals in the brain may play a role. b.e.d. is also the most... ...common eating disorder in us adults. hi, i'm monica seles. when i binged,... ...i wasn't in control. i never felt satisfied... ...no matter what the quantity was. afterwards, i felt so upset with myself. to learn more about b.e.d.... ...go to binge eating disorder dot com and talk with

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as i understand it, he was at the airport and witnessed the explosions and the aftermath. jeff, good morning. first of all, tell us how you are doing, how those you love are doing, and what you saw and heard this morning. >> good morning. it was very interesting morning to say the least. i'm doing okay right now. the people with me, actually i have my girlfriend here, as well as an american from ohio. we brought back here since i'm up. i think we're all doing okay. i don't think it's completely hit. the three of us were actually potentially right next to the explosion. >> were you inside the terminal, jeff, or were you in the curb check-in area? >> my girlfriend was flying back, booked on the departure to philadelphia. we were checking in roughly about 7:40. i was waiting outside the check-in line.

she was at the counter. i'm assuming around 7:40 something in the morning. the first explosion occurred to the right of me, to where delta airlines has its check-in, was my guess from what i saw. the first explosion hit, and i felt the shock wave hit me. basically, you kind of turn and a lot of debris comes flying at you. i turned to her and the entire check-in line, as well as everyone behind the counter, was frozen in place and everybody was looking around. at that point, i started to move towards her. that's when the second one went off, which was a little further away. over towards -- there was actually a starbucks in the main terminal, before security. i believe it was essentially right next to the starbucks. at that point, you had no doubts whatsoever what was going on. everyone hit the floor.

that the air inside the terminal was immediately full of smoke, debris, dust and everything else you can think of. >> jeff, you would say what, about ten seconds between the two blasts? you've now told us something that we didn't have before. we had been told originally that one of the explosions happened outside the terminal at the curbside check-in area and the other inside. are you saying both were inside the terminal? >> from where i was, both appeared to be inside the terminal building. once the -- the first explosion was followed -- this will sound horrible -- but it was follow heed he ed by screaming. the second was followed by dead silence. ever since the bataclan attacks, ever since paris, the lockdown we had the second week of november, you've seen soldiers, especially at the airport. i guess what shocked me at first was no one moved. no one appeared to be standing.

when i glanced over to where the second explosion occurred, given the fact that the feel ceiling was mangled inside the terminal -- and next to starbucks, it's a brussels airlines customer service desk, if i remember correctly. that appeared to be demolished. once i was outside of the airport, i didn't see any damage. it was all inside the terminal building. >> did you see, jeff, some of the casualties? >> yes, i did. >> making your way out of the building wharks building, what did you see? >> when i glanced over, and i grabbed shareen and we started to move toward the front entrance, i remember a soldier came running by with his weapon. i looked down at the floor and there was a blood trail leading out. when i had glanced over and kind of hustled her past, i viewed what i saw was a large number of

it certainly did not look like we were going to be looking for survivors in that immediate vicinity. once we exited the terminal building through the glass doors, there was an individual, he was in tact, but he was bleeding from the face. propped up against the wall. then you would see other people. we ended up crossing the terminal road and kind of sheltering in the garage area for a few minutes. then, you know, we were probably there for 15 minutes. that's when they started wheeling the gurnys s gurneys past us. >> we understand some were coming out on stretchers and others moved out of the terminal on luggage carts. how did you get away from the airport? >> we checked over -- i had a small cut on my finger. we grabbed our new american friend from ohio and we began walking. at that point, all traffic in and out of the airport was completely shut down. we ended up in an area over by

was a large mass of people. we were there for probably 30 minutes, until authorities pushed us out. i actually live downtown, so we wanted to get back to the apartment. we went to the railway station and attempted to find a cab, which took us a bit of time. we ended up walking probably airport. you get to a point and look down and you're like, why is the luggage still in my hand? >> jeff, based on being there, do you have a sense of the magnitude of this blast? did it seem to be a very powerful explosive? >> i think they were fairly powerful. if i were to venture a guess, and also hearing what others who were there with me, it was definitely a suicide bomb. i think there were two individuals. that seemed to make the most sense. they don't -- security has been high here quite some time.

drop a package and walk away. i have to assume that -- i'm no expert -- but suicide bomb and, yes, powerful enough. i felt the first shock wave hitringer, and the second was probably more powerful, even though it was further away. >> you work for nato. any thoughts, after the events over the last several months in belgium and brussels, about staying there? >> yeah, probably too early this morning to clarify, i'm a consultant for nato, not a direct employee. but i don't know. right now, i think it's a case of girlfriend is still here. as i said, we have an american guest who will be staying here because i can't imagine there will be hotel rooms. first assessment is going to be, how do i get them back home?

i think, speaking personally, i was in istanbul one week before the suicide blast there. i've been around in so many of these incidents, part of me wonders, perhaps i'm getting a signal to go home. >> i hope your girlfriend has been able to communicate with her family back home, and your friend from ohio has been able to tell his or her family that he's -- that they're okay, as well. >> yes. we managed to make contact with everyone. 7:40 in the morning, early in the morning, didn't want anybody waking up on the east coast and, you know, not having a message to take down the tension. >> jeff, we appreciate you spending time with us this morning. send our bests to your girlfriend and friend. thank you for sharing with us what you experienced. our best to you. can't imagine. so many of us have been in a situation where you're just getting on an airplane, seeing a loved one off, kissing them good-bye. can you imagine what it would be like to be there?

not further to the right or further to the left, where these explosions went off. jeff, thank you. let us pause now. we'll get some stations an opportunity to do their local news and weather. announcer: local, live, late breaking.

jazmin: good morning, i' m jazmin walker. brett: i' m brett connolly. seminole county deputies are on the lookout for two crooks who busted into an apartment across the ucf. they targeted a guy who lives at the tivoli apartments. no one was hurt. ted: a crash that was blocking for little while on curry ford road by state road 417 on-ramp. no longer blocking. -- the chopper sure. i-4 eastbound coming at the camera from downtown orlando, the colonial drive. amy: still a cold start in central florida. 36 in ocala, 30 seven palm coast. another half hour for this frost divisor in marion county before

47 in sanford, 46 orlando. not nearly as windy this morning as it was yesterday. no wind chills. digg ridge of high pressure building in. we will be dry again and it will -- it won' t be breezy this afternoon. northeast winds. headed to the mid-70' s today. 72 melbourne.

right back. it's 8:30 here on the east coast. we have special coverage this morning. tragic news out of brussels, belgium. terror attacks rocking the city. two explosions at the airport there. at least one in a metro train underground in downtown brussels. want to be joined now by pete williams. chief justice correspondent. you've been on the phone, talking to a lot of people. there are concerns about what they might have heard leading up

concerns about what consequences this will have on us in this country. >> so far, the consequences seem to be limited, matt. what you're definitely going to see in major cities, at airports, already in the del airport in washington, much more visible security, bomb-sniffing dogs. this is the kind of thing you're going to see at airports all over the u.s. today. weapons at the ready. weapons deployed. these are airport police officers. as we've said before, the pictures look like they're from dellus airport, outside of washington, d.c. you're looking at the counterpart of the airy a area attacked in brussels. this is where you'd go up to the airline check-in desks. they'll have more bomb-sniffing dogs. the behavioral detection people will be out in force.

tsa, to spot suspicious behavior. we've already been done, in major cities, washington and new york city, much more visible security on train stations, commuter lines coming into the cities, subway stations. one of the attacks in brussels was in a subway train actually on the train car, which is reminiscent of the bombings carried out in los don, ndon when the subway system there was attacked. these are pictures from the subway station attacked in belgium earlier today. devastating attack inside one of the subway cars. other than that, i think travelers are not going to see a lot of changes. there don't appear to be any word from any major airport on restrictions on where you can do, whether you can check in curbside or drive your car up to drop people off. we haven't heard of changes there.

more reminders of people to report suspicious behavior. why is that? the answer, we're told, is that there is no intelligence indicating any kind of a threat to those facilities inside the u.s. that's the natural thing that they would respond to. they're doing all of this, not because of any intelligence information they have they're not sharing, it's to what we know. the message traffic we've seen from the u.s. government to these local authorities is passing along, basically, what's been publicly reported and what they're seeing on social media. what is obvious, what has happened, that's enough for them to pass along these statements of concern to local officials. they're not recommending or requiring any changes in operation. >> as you pointed out earlier, pete, there's only so much you can do at an airport in terms of

you can't go off airport problem property. you start the security procedure in those roadways that lead right to where you drop passengers off. there's not much you can do beyond that. >> right. we talked about this before. perhaps it bears repeating. the security situation involving isis actual operational people, who have been to syria and trained, is a light years difference in europe than it is here. the intelligence authorities in the u.s. estimate that almost 7,000 people, 7,000 people from western european countries have gone to syria to train with isis and returned to europe. that is a huge number of people to track. it's tiny in the u.s. compared to that. one of the problems that european authorities have had is they're overwhelmed, trying to follow this rapidly developing

now, that's separate and apart from the focus on this specific group in brussels. i'm sure we'll hear more on whether authorities in belgium were doing enough. the complaint we've consistently heard from authorities in europe, intelligence and local police, is that this is such a big problem. they have to try to focus on the worst of the worst. they can't follow everybody. >> exactly. we remember from the paris attacks, as the ringleader, abaaoud has been to syria and had come back, name was known to authorities and even that was a challenge. the magnitude of what is before these counter terror officials as they try to detect the plots before they happen can't be overstated. pete, stand by there. we'll turn to tom costello. i don't know if you heard, we had a witness on, nato consultant, who was very, very close to the explosions. he described those two explosion explosions that sounded to him like both had taken place inside the terminal.

>> i have to tell you, we talked about how well i know that terminal. matt knows the terminal well. the devastation there looks really quite significant. i'm not sure that they're going to be able to reopen this airport as quickly as they originally thought. by the way, every u.s. carrier that was flying into brussels, the planes have either been diverted or the passengers are safely on the ground. several flights into brussels already in the air from other longer destinations, but not the united states, have been amsterdam, paris or antwerp. they're small regional airports but putting some planes there. i think you think of that is as belgium's 9/11. putting the entire city, the entire country of 11 million into a lockdown here. i was just on the phone with my wife, who is in touch with family in belgium. all the schools are on lockdown,

the free university of brussels announcing they're evacuating their campus. primary schools through high school are on lockdown. probably not a safer place for them to be. several individuals in belgium are telling me their cell phone rs not working for voice calls. they are speculating, they are speculating, that that could be the government or the police, trying to shut down the cell phone network to make it more difficult for any potential suspects to communicate. that is conjecture and talk. that gives you a sense of where the population is right now. you can imagine the terror we kept on 9/11. especially those of us on the east coast. how people in brussels are feeling at this very moment, with the entire country locked down. no rail service,o n subway service, no plane service. busses have been shut down to a large extent. buildings closed. schools on locktown. it is it is a state of fear and concern at this hour. >> tom, thank you.

>> let's bring richard engel back in for more on the terror investigation. good morning. >> good morning. a senior u.s. terrorism official says this is a terrorist attack, described it as sophisticated and are concerned there could be follow-up attacks. 50 to 100 syrian-trained, isis militants are in europe looking for targets. they don't know exactly which countries they're in. they don't know exactly which targets they're looking for. but that is a significant number. going back to what pete williams was saying earlier. thousands of europeans have gone to link up with isis. many of them getting combat training in iraq and syria. then returned home. that's compared to only 70 americans who i'm told either went to join isis or tried to join isis. still, 70 is a number, a high

the thousands in europe. so far, there's been one claim of responsibility from isis. we have not verified it yet. what we have seen is many isis supporters online, on facebook, on different social media platforms, celebrating this attack, cheering this attack. isis had been actually weakened, as of yesterday or a few days ago. their number of tweets was at an all-time low. some might interpret this as a way for isis to show that it is that it is trong. that -- strong and has recovered from personnel loss that is the group has been suffering in iraq and syria. >> richard, as we've seen, and talked about earlier, it's not necessary that isis even directs or coordinates from its stronghold in syria. a lot of times, these are fighters who get some measure of

western passports and are on their own and have a good idea of what to do once they're there. >> that's usually the way isis operates. it is very cellular organization. you could have a small group go, maybe one or more of them go to syria, get combat training, operational training, and then they come back and find their friends, relatives, associates. they form a very secretive cell. those cells can operate autonomous autonomously. they don't need moment by moment direction from iraq and syria. then you've seen groups from isis saying, don't come here at all. just do these operations on your own. be inspired by the message of isis in iraq and syria. in order to carry out a sophisticate sophisticated, coordinated attack, counter terrorism officials say if you make the trip and militants get

elevates their capacity significantly. >> richard, back to a point you made a second ago, where there could be dozens of isis-trained operatives or isis sympathizers in europe looking for targets to strike, one of the very things that europeans love so much about the european union is that they can move freely between countries. that is the very thing that makes it so hard to stop terror suspects from moving freely between countries. >> the open border system that has been inside europe has come under tremendous amount of pressure for two reasons over the last several months or about a year. one is the migrant and refugee crisis. hundreds of thousands of people have been leaving primarily iraq and syria and making their way up through turkey, greece, macedonia, syria. following the mie grant trail into

the second is the security implications. where the two meet is a very sensitive and explosive issue for europe. we're already seeing the rise of the right wing. we're already seeing the rise of hate attacks, where people will use the terrorist attacks, these incidents, to vilify all of the muslim community. which, of course, only makes the situation worse. then people feel isolated, ostracized, ghettoized, and they retreat to their own communities. >> richard engel, stand by. thank you very much. let's go back to keir simmons who has been following the developments from overseas. what are you hearing? >> savannah, good morning. we're looking now at the people -- the authorities in belgium were trying to track down before these attacks this morning. savannah, i think in some senses, we should talk about this as not just one attack today, but as an ongoing attack.

the attack on "charlie hebdo" ," the satirical magazine earlier in the year, and then the attacks in paris in november, now these in belgium, they are part of a continuum. many of the people involved in each of the first two attacks i mentioned came from brussels. now this is brussels. we've been talking about salah abdeslam. he is the man, of course, arrested by belgium authorities on friday. then through the weekend, news emerged that he may have been talking and saying that another attack was planned. let's talk about someone else, too. a man called najim laachraoui. his details were released yesterday. they wanted to hunt him to find him. said he was dangerous. his dna was found in apartments where they also found explosive material.

suggesting that he may have been on a cell phone communicating with the paris attackers from pearl belgium while the attack was taking place. while we've been talking about the arrest of salah abdeslam and what connection this may have to that, we should also be talking about the other people connected to him. the authorities have been saying openly they want to find. whether those people will have felt like they were under a good deal of pressure. >> connected either loosely or directly. it's hard to know how. >> right. >> keir simmons. >> exactly. >> thank you very much. >> matt, i was going to say, i think just to add so that, we are going to look at growing criticism of the intelligence agencies in europe because every time an attack happens, the dots are connected. yet, they don't seem to be able to connect those dots enough,

many isis jihadists may have come from syria. it's a big task. but people are going to start asking in europe, how come we aren't able to stop this when we available? that is just going to add to the sense of insecurity and fear. another attack, another attack again, ha z the s the risk it will have a profound effect on the phycology of europe. >> just as 9/11 did in this country. keir, thank you. >> right. >> we want to pause for a moment and give our other stations a chance to join us. as we continue our breaking news coverage. 8:45 on the east coast. more of a special edition of "today" as we cover the deadly

early morning their time. >> we're joined by don, the former special agent for the fbi and someone whose expertise we call on in times like this. unfortunately, here we are again. what are your initial impressions from what we've seen in brussels? >> i think one of the things that i think about is the network that allowed salah abdeslam to stay basically hiding in the middle of an area that he was known to be in for four months. yet, you know, it took that long. nobody came forward. it took that long to unravel the intelligence. the amount of logistical support, cells, people involved, really, we don't know how big this is. there's talk about an attack planned, more attacks planned. this could go on for a while and it's scary. >> when you look at the scope of what's happened at the airport and in this metro train, in your gut, and you see the images from the airport of the devastation, in your gut, don, does this look like something that was pieced

arrest of abdeslam, or do you think this was a plan that was in the works, was always going to include these targets, and may have been moved up in terms of its date? >> i think it's the latter. i think this attack, these attacks, were planned. obviously, it takes a level of training and sophistication when you bring these explosives into the picture. >> when you say that, i think there are going to be a lot of people watching saying, what level of sophistication? yes, getting the explosives. they may already have had them on site in belgium. it takes putting them into a suitcase and walking into an airport. >> right. as we've seen in the past, when you have these multiple, simultaneous attacks that are somewhat coordinated, there is a level of command and control somewhere. if i had to guess, i would say that this was planned but maybe the tienl ming was moved up based on the arrest, because of possibly people coordinating, possibly

could have identified these cells and the attacks. instead of risking -- sitting around getting caught, time to move up the attack. just a guess. we'll see what happens. >> salah abdeslam, who is a fixer in the paris attack, now under arrest, reportedly being interrogated. conflicting reports about whether or not he's been cooperative. if someone like that is sitting in custody, something like that happens, i have to imagine officials say, all right, what more do youyou know? have you been truthful? take us into that scene. >> that's exactly what's going to happen. they'll be interrogating him. they're going to be showing him pieces of evidence and say, what does this mean? whose phone number was this? things like this. who are these people? they'll be showing him photographs. showing him a map and saying, what place did you stay this week and that week, and try to unravel this network of support that allowed him to stay on the

and allowed people to build explosive devices and stockpile weapons and everything else. >> thank you very much. we'll take another pause, as more stations join us. in the "today" on a tuesday

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the subways and airports. we saw what happened in belgium. i believe it was around down. here we go again.

lot of pressure to make that decision. public safe they has to take precedent. >> potentially a hunt for a suspect or someone who will be connected. the third may be a suicide bomer if the phlegmer tell er flemish television report is correct. salah abdeslam, one of the paris attackers, was able to live, perhaps not well or out in the open, but was able to be for the last four months without detection. what can authorities really do? we heard a route euters report of going door to door and house to house. >> network of your own intelligence people that can infiltrate a community like that. it doesn't appear they have that. if they have an intelligence network, it's not robust. you do go door to door. you can't plant yourself in front of the door 24/7.

you need the cooperation of the community. we said that all the time. thing. the best way to prevent is not more rings of physical security. yes, you need those. but you need people that will is in the works. >> richard engel, i believe, or maybe keir simmons, just said there has already been criticism within europe of their intelligence gathering capabilities. their ability to stop things like this. although it's extremely difficult. an attack like this in belgium will amp up that criticism. what cooperation is there between european officials and american officials, and can american officials really have any impact when we're talking about what goes on in places like paris and belgium? >> i think so. first off, there is good cooperation between our european partners and the u.s. certainly, we share even some of the most classified information with our trusted partners in europe. and expect the same from them.

for the belgians to step up what they're doing. the u.s. will offer whatever resources can be brought to bear. at the end of the day, it's their country. it takes a lot of resources to build a robust counterterrorism network like we have in the united states. we have joint terrorism task forces that are run by fbi all over the country. i think the notion of that is still somewhat new in europe. i mean, imagine if each state in the united states didn't coordinate with one another through the fbi and through other organizations. i mean, it would be chaos. >> people in your business call these soft targets. to the layperson watching this, this is real life. it's a cafe in paris or a concert hall or an airport or a train station. it's so terrifying to think that these areas are so vulnerable. >> that's a lot of the key, what makes isis and other organizations so successful.

kill thousands. but the psychological effect, the fear, i mean, that's what these groups really trigger. the gut, the fear that makes you not want to go out of your house. win. >> don, as always, thanks very much. we have much more to get to this morning as we continue to cover this breaking news coming out of brussels in belgium. at least three explosions have overnight. two at the airport, one on a subway train. our way. we'll bring them to you as soon as we have an opportunity. breaking. this is a wesh 2 news update. m brett connolly.

newsroom, the s office has just identify the victim of a deadly shooting an apopka. a playground at 13th street monday afternoon. several shots were fired into a group of about 40 people. deputies say they' trouble getting information from witnesses and if not made an arrest. i-4 eastbound through downtown orlando just about kaylee to colonial drive. also in osceola county, a crash at 192 slowing things down. neptune road a good way to get around that. westbound seminole into orange, three minutes slower than usual. minutes slower than usual. amy: we are called this morning beginning to climb. we are in the 40' s in marion county and orlando. we will keep climbing today with sunshine. yesterday so it is not as breezy now. it will be as breezy this

he went look off the of from which will keep a slightly cooler at the coast. lower 70' s there. our inlets possible climb to 70' s. not quite back to normal. it will be 10 degrees warmer than where we were yesterday. we will see spot climbing. mid 80' s once again by thursday. we will also start to see rain moving to our forecast. as we head to the holiday rotisserie-style chicken raised without antibiotics? it's what we do. by hand? it's what we do. freshly-baked bread and crisp veggies? the new rotisserie-style chicken sandwich from subway.

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overpriced lunches? instead, for just three dollars subway, you can get one of our best 6-inch subs, every day of the week. it's the three-dollar sub of the day. subway. fresh is what we do. our coverage continues after this. let us reset for you. 9:00 on a tuesday morning on the east coast, 6:00 a.m. out on the west coast. this is a special edition of "today" as we continue this morning's deadly attacks on the airport and subway system in brussels, belgium. >> it has been a morning of fast-moving developments. 26 dead at both the airport and at the subway station. you have a major western european capital, all but shut down this morning. let's go to nbc's kelly cobiella. she has been traveling to brussels all morning. not an easy trip.