@breaking news. @explosions at the brussels @airport and another at a metro @subway station. @we'll have the latest on the @death toll. @>> what we're learning about @what may be behind the attacks. @tiffany? @>> also ahead, here in @lorraine, the city is looking @to cut millions of dollars from @the budget. @coming up, the proposal the @mayor is taking off the table. @john? @>> plus, a brawl involving the @easter bunny caught on tape. @what led to the punches flying @in this case. @>> first, a live look outside @where it's a chilly start to @your tuesday. @hollie, you're tracking rising @temperatures. @>> and not nearly as cold as it @was yesterday.

@this is all working out. @look at this day ahead of us. @we have partly cloudy skies. @we've seen a good amount of @sunshine. @i think more cloud cover and @peaks of sunshine, temperatures @warming up into the upper 50s. @if we hold on, it could end up @being more like 60 degrees. @it could be keeping it in @perspective. @the wind gusts are the line @that you see here, and then the @sustained winds, generally 10- @20 miles per hour. @we'll start to see them @increase by 9:00 this morning @and continue into the @afternoon. @right now, winds are calm. @it's something to keep in mind @as you're going about your @travels. @we're more or less dry today @we're tracking rain. @dani is tracking your commute @to see how the roads are on @this tuesday. @it's going to be a windy day. @>> i wore my jacket. @i spoke to cleveland police.

@123rd street where a car hit a @pole there, that incident has @now cleared out. @so you're good to go there. @no problems. @for those of you who take west @side highways into downtown, @we're looking good. @all green. @71, 90, jennings, all normal. @we have normal drive times back @throughout the region. @>> now to our breaking news, @the terror level in belgium at @its maximum level. @two explosions at the airport @and a subway station. @>> maureen kyle has been @following the details. @>> this information is coming @in as we speak. @as the explosions at the @airport are being investigated, @we just learned the brussels @subway company is closing all @stations after smoke was

@witnesses saying they heard an @explosion. @after two explosions rocked the @airport, according to news @reports, 11 people were killed @and at least 20 were wounded. @those numbers could rise @throughout the morning. @passengers were evacuated, @officials will are urging @people not to come to the @airport. @the explosions happened only @days before the prime suspect @in the paris attacks in @brussels. @details are coming in as we @speak. @we'll bring you these @throughout the morning. @john and lynna, back to you. @>> thank you. @also breaking overnight, back @here at home, one man is dead @after being shot on the east @side. @he was rushed to the hospital @where he later died. @we'll continue to watch this @one as well.

@a budget crisis could mean @layoffs, a few stations. @they have days to come up with @a plan. @>> tiffany tarpley joins us @live. @the city is dealing with a $3.6 @million deficit. @>> john and lynna, that's a @huge deficit for this city with @very few options. @we know that this morning one @of those options is off the @table. @the mayor wanted to force @firefighters and police @officers to retire at the age @of 57, but that left a lot of @people upset. @it was a packed house here at @the city council meeting in @lorraine last night. @people have said about that @possibility. @the concern for the union was a @loss on the streets and some @were concerned. @>> we're not opposed to @discussing these matters, but

@the -- they've cut from the @budget already. @>> we can get to anywhere in @the city within five minutes. @if we close stations, we're @going to be playing russian @roulette with all the citizens. @>> that's one of the options @still on the table. @fewer fire stations here in the @city of lorraine. @also dozens of layoffs forcing @people to take unpaid days off. @trying to get this budget @balanced here in lorraine. @i'm going to let you know @what's keeping the mayor up at @night, what he's really @concerned here moving forward. @tiffany tarpley, channel 3 @news. @>> thanks, tiffany. @ students at a local high @school are upset after many of @their teachers won't be back @next year. @52 staff members, including 49

@cleveland heights university @schools because of declining @numbers. @they knew that cuts would be @coming but did not expect there @to be so many. @>> i was hoping that it would @be much less. @i'm disappointed that they @continued to have as many @positions lost as they could. @>> cutting staff means sizes @will increase from 14 to 22. @the district says they still @have plenty of staff to educate @students. @>> he walked in and confessed @to killing his wife, today @for murder. @police say ashley stabbed his @wife during an argument last i @last september. @month. @water. @they will receive a grant that

@that will alert the water plant @to add chemicals when the water @becomes too acidic. @the upgrade will be complete in @about a month. @>> the accuser has admitted he @lied. @he questioned medical treatment @perks and travel expenses at @the hospital. @he was put on unpaid @administrative leave for @unrelated reasons. @withdrawal of the lawsuit, the @hospital has agreed to not file @defamation claims against @huggins or his attorneys. @>> it's tuesday, so there's @more voting. @three states head to the polls. @we'll have a live preview from @washington with tracy potts. @ and a winter wonderland in @california.

@better than the mud. @>> yeah. @we're all about the springtime @today. @it's going to boost as far as @numbers go. @sunshine, breezy, but a wind @from the south and southwest. @so that's what's warming us up. @pretty fabulous as your tuesday @gets under way. @30s as you're waking up. @a live look at your gorgeous @city. @winds are still pretty calm @too. @we'll take a look at the wind @profile for today. @we're expecting things to get @pretty breezy. @do you know what's just a few @days away? @the easter bunny. @we'll see what that forecast

@ @5:11 right now.

@it's the western trifecta. @democrats are focused on the @next contest. @nbc's tracy potts is live in @the nation's capital. @good morning, tracy. @today, both hillary clinton and @bernie sanders are focused on @the weekend and campaigning in @washington state. @first, how are they going to @divide today's delegates. @idaho for the democrats. @arizona and utah. @arizona is the big prize, @winner take all. @bernie sanders was there last @night. @>> i think we have a narrow @road road. @donald trump is trying to bring @the party together after a @private meeting in washington. @his back and forth positions on

@from both sides. @>> we need steady hands, not a @president who says he's neutral @on monday, proisrael on tuesday @and who knows what on wednesday @because everything is @negotiable. @>> i would love to be neutral @if it's possible. @it's probably not possible @because there's so much hatred. @there's nobody more proisrael @than i am. @>> he can state total different @policy positions in the course @of a day from one end to the @other. @>> john kasich doubts peace @with the palestinians could @ever happen. @>> until they recognize israel @should exist, how could you. @>> let's talk about arizona. @they have the biggest prize @today. @they have the most delegates to @offer, but there's a trigger in @arizona. @it's winner take all, but it's @only winner take all if the @candidate gets 50%.

@track of all these rules @besides the states. @thank you so much. @time right now. @almost 5:14. @here's hollie with a look at @the weather. @>> what did you say? @>> stunning color you're @wearing today. @>> that's really nice, john. @>> i really like that. @>> thank you. @can you keep john's mic open @please. @let's take a look at the @forecast. @i adore you. @this would go great with your @gorgeous eyes. @as promised, we're seeing much @warmer weather already. @this is where we should be. @it's textbook today. @we'll end up about 10 degrees @above normal. @coats at the bus stop, i would @go layered. @i'm telling you. @as we move through the day, it @is going to be one of those @where we end up seeing much @milder conditions. @that's in the weather @headlines. @milder weather, breezy today. @winds are still pretty calm. @i am tracking rain, but not

@first things first, we're @plotting out our tuesday. @the breezy weather kicks in at @9:00 a.m. @and continues through the @afternoon. @there are not any wind @advisories in place at this @point in time. @sustained winds between 15 and @20 miles per hour. @in the scheme of things, it's @doable for sure. @these are current winds. @they're deciding what they want @to do. @we'll see the shift to the @southwest. @a warm front is lifting through @the region. @right now it's just about 5-10 @miles per hour sustained. @so it is pretty calm. @we're in the 30s. @the one exception, couple @exception is in the upper 20s, @but everyone else hovering @right around freezing at this @moment. @it should more or less be like @that. @cloud cover, no precip.

@kind of a sprinkle. @20% or less. @50s, sunshine, lovely. @notice here comes more cloud @cover to dinner. @i really believe most of you @will be dry for today. @it will change as we get into @the week. @here is your window nation @forecast. @sunshine, breezy. @59 for tomorrow and then rain @on thursday. @maybe some rumbles of thunder @in there. @we're in the low 60s for a @high. @it gets cooler behind the @front. @upper 50s for this easter @weekend. @chances for shower easter @sunday. @it looks like small chances @into early next week. @5:16. @let's check your commute. @>> good morning. @hope you're having a great @start to your day. @we're looking good. @all of our accidents have @cleared out. @for those of you who travel to

@here is a picture of 76 where @it meets 277 at the bottom. @to the north, same picture, all @green. @here's what i-90 looks like. @it meets route 2. those drive @times on i-90, the east shore @way are normal. @11 minutes headed east and west @toward dead man's curve. @now, coming up in about 15 @minutes, you will lit you know @about road closures starting @today because of the inner belt @bridge project. @i will get you around it. @>> thank you. @we continue to follow our @breaking news out of belgium @where two explosions rocked the @brussels airport. @now, the explosions reportedly @happened near the check-in @desk. @the bbc is now reporting that @13 people have been killed. @35 others have been injured. @we also snow the explosions @come after the capture of a @main suspect in the paris

@>> now, we've been watching @this, and social media posts @show damage and smoke near the @departure screen. @we'll keep you posted on air @and online at wkyc.com. @we'll be joining nbc news. @they will have a special live @report coming up with matt @lauer. @as soon as they're ready for @that, we'll take you live. @>> time now is 5:18. @today, the u.s. supreme court @will hear arguments on whether @puerto rico should be able to @file for chapter 9 bankruptcy. @>> all right. @maureen is following this story @coming in from the morning news @feed. @>> this is a unique case here. @we'll explain why. @the federal bankruptcy code @chapter 9 does not apply to @puerto rico or the district of @columbia. @if extended, the statute will @create a mechanism for the @public utilities to restructure @their $20 billion in debt. @this is an unusual day for the @high court.

@seven justices since justice @aledo and his wife own -- fresh @powder in parts of california @today. @yesterday, adding much need to @the snow pack. @crews had to turn to the big @guns to keep the roads clear. @for drought ravaged california, @the snow comes as good news. @the snow pack is eight times @higher than last year at this @time. @ it looks like the nba all- @star game will be headed back @to los angeles. @according to the l.a. @times. @it will be the third game since @it opened in 19 1999. @next year's all-star game will @be held in charlotte. @ getting your easter @pictures at the mall should be

@this easter bunny throwing @punches. @the brawl went down at a mall @in new jersey while customers @lined up to get their picture @taken. @both men were arrested, @including the easter bunny. @we have no word on what led up @to that fight. @>> we are following breaking @news out of belgium. @we'll have more for you when @channel 3 news continues.

@ @thanks for being with us this @morning. @again, we're following the @breaking news out of belgiums @brussel where several @explosions are being reported @within the subway system. @here's what we know right now. @the european union is warning @all people in brussels to stay @in their homes or offices. @explosions were reported. @they saw one big blast and saw @several people injured.

@explosions at the airport. @at least 35 people were @injured. @that death toll has been rising @throughout the morning. @we're also starting to hear @witness descriptions coming in. @one man told the the associated @press that he had just got off @of his plane. @he said it was like walking @through a war zone. @we're going to update you every @several minutes and nbc news @will be taking a live broadcast @at 5:30. @we're going to take that so we @get you the updated information @throughout the morning. @john and lynna, back to you. @>> all right. @maureen. @thank you. @ let's talk money news. @comcast is set to sell service @through amazon. @matt granite is there with all @the details. @>> very interesting. @for anyone who said you can @really buy anything from @amazon, today you really can @buy anything from amazon, @including your cable. @for those of you that hate @sifting through cable packages,

@amazon thinks that you're more @likely to buy cable through @them, through their familiar @website, them doing the credit @checks and offering incentives, @than your cable provider. @they have launched a cable @store. @now, right now, their partners @are comcast, infinity, and this @will, of course, later include @many broadcasters and cable @providers. @very interesting that you're @all doing it through amazon. @now, amiddist this, a lot of @reviewers are asking where is @the best rate. @where can i lock in and get the @most bang for my buck. @dish. @they're still offering a three- @year price guarantee of an all- @in fee for three years. @dish is still king this morning @when it comes to the most bang @for your buck. @if you ask me a few months ago @would i ever say that about a

@extended period of time, i @don't think my answer would @have been yes, but we are @seeing dish, amazon, budget all @in the same sentence. @>> any indication how long dish @will keep that deal. @>> three years. @after that, another six months. @>> offering it? @they could take it off the @table. @>> yeah. @six months. @>> okay. @>> could be longer. @>> it's already been @interpreted. @>> let's take it over to hollie @for your spring forecast. @it's going to have a spring @vibe. @temperatures in the 30s now. @we'll be warming into up ther @30s at 9:00. @breezy today. @by 9:00 and mid-morning you're @going to notice. @upper 50s to near 60s is going @to feel pretty fantastic. @on the at all -- on the travel @map, it's quiet. @i'm going to let you know when

@in the meantime, the forecast @is looking amazing today. @>> all right. @thanks so much. @again, at 5:30, we'll take you @to new york where the today @show will have a live update, a @special report on our breaking @news explosions happening at @the brussels airport. @also at a subway station there. @>> matt lauer will be anchoring @the coverage from the today @show. @we'll be joining them, coming

watching nbc news coverage of the deadly explosion in brussels at the airport and @ n @at the airport and also in the @metro system. @we're going to return others to @local programming. @ @>> 5:30 now on the east coast. @it is plus 5. so 10:30 in the @morning in brussels, belgium. @you're looking at the scene. @the aftermath of several @explosions there.

@brussels, there were two @explosions at the airport @there. @one was a massive explosion @inside the departures terminal. @another said to occur in the @curb area just outside that @terminal. @we have one report that one of @the explosions, at least one of @the explosions, was a suicide @bombing. @we have one confirmed dead. @>> belgian media are reporting @there may be a death toll in @the double digits. @we'll continue to watch that. @the pictures speak a thousand @words about the impact of the @blast. @the airport departure lounge @are shown here. @many of us have seen that on a @daily basis. @it raises the question what may @happen here.

@we always turn to you about @aviation security. @what are your thoughts. @>> good morning from the morning? >> good morning savannah. i've got tell you i know brussels airport very well. my wife is belgian, she used to work in that airport. we have in-laws in brussels, a very short distance from that airport. and that is the main departure hull right there. when you pull up to the airport, you drop your people off right there or you might park in the garage right across the driveway, if you will. and you walk in. so this is where in the morning you would see hundreds and maybe even thousands of people lining up to check in for their morning flights. that picture right there, i've stood at that exact location many times checking the departure boards. people line up to their various airlines, check in. and what is particularly disturbing also about the timing of this, this would have been about the time that americans

flight bound for the united states because of course the security procedures for people to begin checking in takes a little longer over seas. these pictures right here is down in the concourses of the airport. so this is past security right here. what is particularly interesting about the brussels airport is that it almost bottle necks as you drive up to it. in other words, the roads that seem to feed into the airport are really not big enough. they are not wide enough. and as a result there is always a choke point it seems. always a bottle neck in those small roads leading up to the airport terminal itself. then you go into this big great departure hall which was redone about 20 years ago. a lot of glass as you saw from the earlier picture. you go through checkpoint security process and what you are seeing again are the concourses that feed down to the various planes. the fact that this happened in belgium, which is a country that

heart of this fight involving islamic terrorism for some time, the people who live if belgium. family members who live there, would tell you they have been expecting something for some time. they have felt the nature of their country change in ways that many of them candidly are not very happy with. they believe that increasingly their government has allowed many people to come in who may have backgrounds that are suspect, who haven't been checked thoroughly. and then are given very generous social stipends to live off and are then are not watched. police are not properly watching individuals and as, you know, the laws in belgium are such that they have had an awful lot of problems not just with terror suspects but regular criminals as well and apprehending them and keeping them in custody. so there's been a lot of talks over the years and a lot has been written about the alleged disfunction within the belgian government and whether right now

come to grips this with that. you are looking at downtown brussels near the eu headquarters. so this is separate from the brussels airport, probably ten miles away or so and this is the area on lockdown right now. >> you talked about the timing and there may have been americans looking to board flights back to this country. a lot of flights land at that airport overnight from other parts of the world but the timing again 8:00 a.m. local time when you go to the other side of the story which is the bomb of at least one, perhaps bombing of subway stations in brussels. >> reporter: it is across the entire capital of europe and their subway system feeds into the network that includes the rail system which connects all of europe. but you have a situation where you have many, many people who flood into brussels to work every day and then day take tear

of brussels during the day, rather at the end of the day after work. i would also tell you that we are very concerned about friends of ours who live and work at the brussels airport. and we have not heard from yet. mywife has been on the phone with family members there in belgium as well. the explosion, the images, the explosion near the metro system at eu headquarters, those are the images right there. the brandweer that is the flemish word for fire department. belgium is the flemish, french and also german, a trilingual country. and the flemish and the french really kind of divide up the city. it is a very peculiar city in that regard. people think of belgium as the french city. but the truth is there are more

area than french. >> and we should mention our reporter amon mohyeldin has ordered a shelter in place for all citizens in brussels. and let's not forget this is among other things the capital of europe. so it is a strategic target. also a symbolic target and as we've been talking this morning, brussels itself, particularly this neighborhood known as molembeek has been in recentise a hot bed of islamic radicalism and something that's been very difficult for the belgian authorities to get ahold of. you mentioned the laws. i read in the newspaper this morning that in the search for abdeslam that paris terror suspect just recently arrested, at one point they thought they had him but there is a law preventing nighttime raids so they were unable to go after him.

some of these laws seem absolutely silly, in which they quite literally were not allowed to stage police raids overnight. anybody familiar with law enforcement knows midnight to 5:00 is usually the optimal time to do a raid. and there have been a whole host of laws and bureaucratic moves over the last 25 years this i think almost any belgian would tell you, this is not controversial, has hampered the capability of the police and judicial system in belgium to do their jobs and they are now trying to come to terms with that. but they are dealing with that massive bureaucracy involving multiple languages and competing interests. the image there is right outside of brussels. my family, my in-laws live not far from there. i'm familiar with this area. you are seeing people fleeing

ort there. through that little village. so if they have no train service, no metro service, and no taxis. all of these people have no choice but to evacuate by walking away. walking down the highways and roads and trying to find some way to get back towards the middle of the town or the rail system that is going to be very difficult at this hour with so many, so much of the system polarized that the hour. >> and even though this is the capital of the european union it is difficult it seems even at this early thour get accurate information. much of the information we're receiving coming from belgium broadcasters. we mentioned there is at least one confirmed person dead but broadcasters are saying that o total could be anywhere between 10 and 35. so multiple fatalities. many have been injured at the attack at the airport. it is interesting. we're getting very little in the

fooblg or anything from the subway attacks. we know of at least one bomb going off in a metro station in brussels. belgium by the way has raised the threat tloefl it level to its highest state. we've received no alert to change in this country's status. but again, as we mentioned this all comes four days after the arrest of salah abdeslam who was said to be the ring leader, one of the planners of the paris terror attacks back on november 13th of last year. when he was arrested by belgian authorities.

interrogation said that there were others in the area, that other things have been planned. the big question is was this previously planned? or did accomplices of his simply decide that too much was at stake, too much at risk to their identities and locations after his arrest and they simply accelerated some kind of a plan. >> i want to go to pete williams standing by in our washington bureau and you are one of our first to usually get information to the extent it is coming to this government and federal officials here. are you able to add to the reports a all this morning. >> able to add this on what's happening here in the u.s. savannah. we are waiting to see what u.s. airports are going to do in response to this. there's been no recommends yet we are now told by the department of homeland security. they are trying to decide what to tell local airports to do. but what we often see is that many cities simply do things on their own. and a spokesman for the new york city police department says --

this is the usual response nypd takes. that they are going step up security in new york as the precaution. they are telling us to tell people in new york to see -- to expect to see further security, especially at the obvious places. at points of transit, subways and so forth. at bridges and tunnels. that means people coming into the new york area, to the extent there are checks on vehicles. you can expect to see more of those. they are going to be putting out a statement later today. but they have already decided they are going take up some more visible security in new york. this is the usual response that nypd takes whenever there is a terror attack anywhere in the world but especially in europe. and especially an attack on transportation facilities. so this is something that they have decided to do on their own not based on any information that they have intelligence information. but based on simply what is publicly known.

in belgium after the arrest of abdeslam were worried that something would happen. was there much talk here in the united states about that fear? >> well, there was talk about the fear in europe. but not about a fear in the united states. because the european situation is just so different and because the -- the assumption here is that these are -- we don't know this for a fact. but the assumption has been, the concern has been that it was the periphery or people connected with the paris attacks who either fled paris before the attacks, were involved and left before or right after. it is the sort of cell that was responsible for the paris attacks. because a lot of the planning for the paris attacks happened in belgium. >> pete, let me pause you right there. i do want to go to keir simmons who's following this from overseas.

>> reporter: a senior european counterterrorism official confirmed through nbc news that islamic state, isis, is suspected to be behind this attack or multiple attacks. as you have been seeing through the morning we have seen substantial damage at brussels airport. the kind of damage that is difficult to believe that one explosion would cause. if it was, it would have to be a sizable bomb. and damage too at the metro station. so that appears as if we are talking about a multiple attacks. something coordinated. and of course savannah as you have been talking with pete about. this comes after european authorities were warning that they feared that another attack was planned. so sa la abdeslam, who was arrested on friday in connection with the paris attacks telling authorities, according to the

planning further attacks. alerts have been i should for others, other accomplices that they believe have been working with him. many questions now over who is behind this and whether -- compelled to move because they knew one of their number had been arrested and feared he was talking or whether this was something planned for some time. >> we've mentioned a couple of times this morning the term "suicide attack" and i think for a lot of people that brings up images of someone walking in wearing some sort of device on their body, a belt or a vest. but if we look at some of the footage -- and you said this a second ago. if we look at some of the footage inside the terminal and at the scope of the damage, you know, i hate to say it. but we've seen these types of

that damage in there looks like something that could be caused by a belt or suitcase because extreme damage. >> quite simply it depends how much explosives you use how much damage is cause. these are early hours and it is difficult to jump to conclusions. but certainly those pictures, and the viewers can see them for themselves really do appear to describe visually an explosion that has done a lot of damage. blown those windows out. caused smoke to rise from the building like that. so very quickly officials will be trying to figure out how much explosives will have caused

told by european officials that they still didn't know who the bomb maker was in connection with the paris attacks. that they had found explosive residue in a number of apartments used by the terrorist cell that carried out paris. but they were still to some extent struggling to understand how these bombs were put together. >> right but keir, based on recent information they were also somewhat alarmed at the sophistication of the devices used, for example in the paris attack. and again it was believed much of the planning for that attack came from brussels in belgium. let me ask you to hold on a second keir. savannah and i are here on a desk. we understand that tom costello is gesturing he's got new information and would like to get in on this discussion. tom go. >> only so far as can we go back

as i mention i am intimately familiar with this airport. this is the main terminal where you would stand, you would walk right down those openings and those are the check-in kiosks. and three main hallways based out of that. so they struck right where people were standing. this is exactly where you would have hundreds and i've got to say as i've stood there, many, many times to catch a flight either back to the states or across the eu there are at times thousands of people queueing all through the main terminal. >> is that the international departures. >> as all mixes. so you would be standing next to somebody getting on a flight for the u.s., on a u.s. carrier. maybe on the other side somebody who's headed to africa or someone headed to italy. it is all mixed there at the main brussels airport. and then they divide you off

will go to different concourses but the main terminal where that picture is from is where everybody would be standing and the devastation i'm seeing, i can tell you having been there so many times i'd be surprised if they can recover very quickly, at least in the next 24-48 hours. that looks absolutely devastating. >> tom costello in washington. @ @. @>> taking a break from the @special report on nbc just to @keep you up to date locally. @breezy, much milder. @it's going to be a partly @cloudy sky. @it's going to be a good looking @tuesday. @that's the truth. @upper 50s for highs. @we're planning on a lot of @sunshine this morning and into @the afternoon before we start @to see cloud cover later in the @day. @your window nation 7-day @forecast, we're forecasting

@slight chance of a shower @tomorrow. @i think it's mainly dry. @thursday looks like our rainy @day. @cool front, cooling off for @friday in the 40s and back in @the upper 50s for this upcoming @easter weekend. @on easter sunday itself, it's a @40% chance of shower. @by no means a washout for all @of our little bonnets and @easter dresses. @i think these chances are going @to be later in the day at this @point. @50s into early next week. @dani, what's going on for the @commute. @>> we're looking pretty good. @smooth sailing on our highways @for those of you preparing to @leave the house within the next @few minutes. @we're green and clean to the @north as well as to the south. @no problems no, accidents. @for those of you who travel @near i-90 in downtown @cleveland, commercial road, @remember, it's going to close @today under i-90 tuesday and @tomorrow. @so today and tomorrow because

@detours are posted and add some @time to your commute if you @travel to that area. @we'll be right back. @we'll send it back to the today @show. @>> going on in brussels, in @particular brussels, in particular this neighborhood that there was this vast terror cell. that it was a place where people with these intentions could live in relative ease and coordinate. and obviously evade authorities. right now the prime minister of belgium has said what's become very apparent here. this is indeed a terror attack. imagine brussels right now, the train station is shut down. the cell service we've heard has been suspended by the authorities to protect the service to preserve it for the authorities. >> but people are allowed to

social media but you are not supposed to use your cell phones to make calls. >> and also seeing reports online of other modes of transportation that otherwise might be entering brussels obviously told to stop right now. because you see a city at an absolute standstill. i'm reminds in the weeks of the paris attacks as focus really came to brussels, there was a period of time when brussels was completely shut down and authorities said to people just basically don't leave your home because they were so fearful that an attack like this was imminent imminent. obviously that was lifted at some point and now we see those fears coming to reality. >> and just a reminder that although we talk about this shut down of transportation. this is europe. soft borders. not like the united states where you travel between a border between here for example and canada or even with the southern board with mexico. there you get in your car and

street sign change and you are in a another country. after the paris attacks we did see roadside stops where they were trying to find suspects fleeing. i would imagine they are out on the roadways leading out of belgium this morning into other european countries trying to see if they can find other suspects trying to get away or carry out other attacks. >> you have to believe there is a dragnet right now around the area. of course it is also a sore spot since after the paris attacks salah abdeslam was able to slip out. he is a name that continually comes up this morning because of his connection to the paris attack, because he came from brussels brusselsel and there will be a lot of questions as to whether

related to the arrest of abdeslam. >> and you have to wonder what he has told authorities so far. what he failed to tell them. and you have to imagine the heat will be turned up on him substantially after these attacks. >> no question about that. there have been conflicting reports frankly about the extent of his cooperation. some early are reports are that he was being cooperative. which was i think surprising to a lot of counterterrorism people. and then over the weekend his lawyer said he wasn't cooperating. so we haven't gotten a good lay down about how much information he has given but no question he's potentially a very important person but, you know, whether they will be able to turn him and get information, i don't know. i will say this though. it is often surprising how much information does come from people who are involved in terrorism. some never give much but often

they do begin to spill their guts as it were on what they know and who else may be involved. that is the critical question. what else is out there? what else is planned. who else is involved. where else should they be concentrating their efforts. >> and remember, according to reports and richard engel was just talking about this, salah abdeslam was somebody who according to authorities was supposed to be among the suicide bombers. that he reportedly told interrogators that he lost his nerve outside of the soccer stadium and that asked for friends to come pick him up and get him out of paris. but that also raises the question of where he stood in the terrorist network after that. if you fail to complete your mission. i've read he wasn't featured in some of the propaganda that came out after the terror attacks. so perhaps he has a different point of view and maybe trying to save his skin, pete as he

interrogators there. >> i've seen those as well and i think we have to take all of that with a grain of salt this morning because there are conflicting reports on exactly how much he's saying. there may be some optimism about the extent to which he was cooperating. >> the extent of whether these attacks were put together hastily or whether they had been planned in advance, there was coordination because these bombs went off in short order. just after 8:00 the airport bombings and shortly after the subway bombing or bombings. so i'm not sure the level of communication that requires other than just several people with cell phones saying we're going to do it now. one of the things that came out of the report following the paris attacks that was printed this past weekend was extensive use of disposable cell phones by the terrorists there.

opening that they had that much coordination and that much planning and decision making ahead of time to go through that sort of process. didn't they also in one of the apartments find boxes of unopened and unused cell phones? >> well that's sadly become sort of standard trade craft, if you will, for terrorists to use these burner cell phones that are very difficult to track. earlier on there were perhaps some discussion that they had used phones that were encrypted and this has been part of the discussion in the u.s. about the so called going dark problem. but then the discovery was that in fact they were simply using these burner cell phones. it moons you go and buy the phone. you can buy the sim card separately. use them a short period of time and then throw them away and use a different phone in order to try to foil attempt to surveil or monitor people or use the

and that's unfortunately become sort of the standard. widely used for years by drug dealers and people in organized crime. but it didn't take terrorists very long to figure out that that was something they could emulate. and that is one of the things that makes it harder to track them. and these burner cell phones are just so widely available. >> coming up on 11:00 in the morning in belgium. you are looking at scenes in the streets of brussels. and we've been running footage of the aftermath at the airport there where these explosions took place just after 8:00. a packed departure area by most accounts. people lining up at kiosks to check into flights whether to other parts of europe or the united states or elsewhere but clearly someone or some people pulled up to that departure area, detonated one explosive device on the curb outside of

with devastating effect inside that departure terminal. reports right now that at least 13 people have been killed. countless others injured. those people taken to local hospitals after being ferried out of the terminal building on stretchers and even luggage carts. >> the target clearly strategic. airport departure hall. a subway station, perhaps more than one. so not only the place bis the timing. 8:00 in the morning brussels time when this happened. a time when those airport departure lounges are full of travelers both domestic and international travelers. as we see these images, particularly from the airport it looks so familiar. you see the kiosk, a place everyone can imagine checking in and what the crowds are like as people are rushing towards their flights and then of course the subway station. the reports that this occurred, in a subway station very near to

capital, the government buildings there. so this morning we are starting to take the toll as the reports come in as we watch what unfolds in brussels, the heart of europe and a city on lockdown right now. >> the people of europe waking up to images of terror. people all around the world waking up to the same as you watch the injured being carried away from the airport in brussels this morning. >> we'll take a moment and let our stations pause and rejoin us at the top of the hour. good evening, everybody. 6:00 a.m. on the east coast, 3:00 a.m. in the west and 11:00 a.m. in brussels belgium. terror attacks at the airport and the subway system there. we have matt lauer with me as we cover this. we're going to pause for a moment to let our stations join in.