the people of frans, but this is it is the deadliest violence in paris since world war ii, the highest death toll was at a paris concert hall where the audience was taken hostage and at least 100 people killed. police say there were also two suicide attacks and a bombing at a national stadium where a soccer game was en under way. police say they believe all the attackers are now dead. the french government has declared a state of emergency and closed it's borders. secretary of state john kerry is describing the attack as heinous, evil and vile. >> reporter: chaos on the

fire ringing out. a mass hostage taking and simultaneous reports of multiple explosions at a restaurant, the deathal toll death toll reaching 140, there appears to be at least six or seven incidents. a hostage taking at a concert hall where an american band was playing. witnesses say gunmen walked through the building shooting people one by one. a shooting at a shopping mall and 11 people killed there alone. explosions could be heard from inside the stadium.

lockdown as shooting continued across paris, one of the-while police and military flooded the street. troos troops. emergency workers were seen carrying away the injured. multiple attacks, in paris there is shock and fear tonight. >> and tonight there are reports the hostage takers at the concert hall were wearing suicide vests and blue themselves up when the security services stormed the building and the french authorities say they believe all the attackers are now dead. the french president declaring a state of emergency, faced with terrorism, france must be strong, he said. >> and kier, let's take a closer look at that concert hall inside

paris, an american band was on stage when the gunmen stormed in. tonight the toll at this popular music venue is much, much higher. here's anne thompson. >> reporter: inside the vatican concert hall, what one police official says the carnage, the intimate club with room for 1,000 patrons turned into a shooting gallery by terrorists, at least 100 people killed. along with gun fire, police say there were explosives. the six man group from palm these sort desert, california was in the middle of a european tour. the band's face book page are saying they're currently trying to the determine the whereabouts of the band and crewing.

police stormed the concert hall to free the hostages, automatic gun fire. french tv reports four attackers are dead and three blew themselves up with -- france will bring to the fight against terrorism and will be without pity. now as the attacks happened, tonight u-2 was rehearting for tomorrow's night's concert on hbo. the rehearsal was stopped and the entire band and crew were taken back to the their hotel where they went to a private entrance and held under ground until that location was secure. they are canceling saturday night's concert. we want to go now to a man

concert hall. he escaped the terror and he now joins us by telephone. julian, why don't you tell us what you saw? >> the show was running for 40 or 45 minutes and the band was playing on stage and the crowd was huge. i mean the concert hall was full and the venue was sold out. so there were about 1,000 people inside the concert hall where the first gun fires -- we heard the first gunshots. at first we didn't know if it was actually gunshots. i was in front of the stage, so when i looked back, i saw twoor three men wearing black clothing and masks and holding i thought ak-47 rifles. >> what was the crowd doing at this moment? >> just singing.

to the music. we were having a wonderful time. we were just enjoying the music. so the moment of terror just happened like lightning and so when i looked back, i saw these three men shooting at us. and they were shooting automatic rifles so not just one gunshot, they were just unloading the guns into us. >> were they saying anything as they fired into the crowd? >> i couldn't tell, but as the gunshots started, the people

began to yell. so we all lied on the floor and many people tried to walk on the bodies to try to escape the bullets. >> and we know you made your way out over the stage and helped who you could. julien pierson, thank you for sharing your account with us. sam champion, our colleague and friend from the weather channel was in paris for a weather conference. tell us what it was like on the streets of paris tonight. >> reporter: before i do that, i want to tell you that on the other side of the ark of triage, there is an armed tactical team on the other side. with one black van, a couple of officers with automatic rifles standing guard between two buildings and virtually half a

people huddled around a bus stop, unable to get a bus stop, unable to get anywhere. when we last talked to you, we went on a tour across the city, we left this area, went across the senge. our studio for to the 24-hour broadcast, the eiffel tower began black to honor those who were killed in the mass shootings and the entire area oh, so quiet. i want to choose the words carefully just to tell you that the streets are silent. there are very the few cars that moved through, earlier in the evening, there would be clusters of emergency vehicles going through town, the only vehicles going through town with flashing lights on them. there are a few lights on in paris, it's still very early in the morning now, but some people seemingly unable to sleep, streets very quiet. but i just wanted to tell you

and see automatic weapons on one corner of a building ing ing and people huddled under a bus stop trying to get home. president obama quick to condemn the paris attacks, kelley o'donnell is standing by at the white house. >> president obama is still at the white house tonight and he moved quickly to speak to the nation saying there were still many facts that were not known, but he wanted to offer friendship, and condolences to the parisian people. >> we have seen attempts to terrorize inept civilians. this is an attack not just on paris, not just on the people of france, but this is an attack on

universal values that we share. we stand prepared and ready to provide whatever the people of france need to respond. france is our oldest ally. the french people have stood shoulder to shoulder with the united states time and again. and we want to make it similar clear that we stand next to them against terrorism and extreme. the values of the french people are values that we share. and those values are going to endure far beyond any act of terrorism or the hateful vision of those who perpetrated the crime this is evening. #. >> reporter: and tonight officials say the president does plan to keep his travel over to turkey tomorrow, he would be leaving tomorrow afternoon.

so no change in his schedule just yet, and tonight homeland security officials say they are in touch with their counterparts in france, they're talk to local and state law enforcement around the country, but so far no credible threats inside the u.s., they're reaching out to law enforcement -- but so far no indication of that. the president is due to visit paris later this month when there will be a climate summit later this month. >> >> andrea w andrew mitchell is with us, obviously a very co-order that itted and very official attack, and that leads to the obvious question, why wasn't there any intelligence on that attack.

>> that's a good question, france supposedly has very good intelligence. the fact is there was this no warning of this. they're going back to the counter terrorism center to see if they missed something, was this some type of electronic code threat that they did not pick up. the fact is they didn't see anything coming and this is very concerning to the american intelligence and to the president. he said that the president said that they were in response mode and he did not want to slow them down or interfere, but we're getting a lot of informs from the press. >> we have got the university student there when these attacks played out. >> i'm just around the corner from the theater. >> and what did you see and hear tonight?

>> so it started, i can't even remember what time it was local time, but i was just following a game on twilt tter, and then i heard an explosion, and then i hard sirens, which i never hear and then maybe ten minutes later, i heard fen major explosions. obviously there was still a lot of sirens and as i read online, i read that they were going to go in and free the hostages and then about 250 people came rushing into my courtyard led by the police and the door was slammed shut and they just stayed there for about three or four hours. >> these are people that came from the theater?

because of the explosion followed by all of these people coming, but i can can't say that for 100% certainty. >> did you realize the entire city was under siege? >> actually i have a couple of friends that was on their way towards my place to just hang out for the night and they said they were hearing things across all parts of the city and basically they were stuck where they were, they couldn't get any closer, and out in my courtyard, it's blocked on both sides, the military full armed, huge guns, things like that. amend there was a triage center set up between where i am and the theater.

there in january for the charlie abdul attacks. >> i was not in paris at the time of the "charlie hebdo" attacks. that made me a little uneasy, but i have faith in everybody and thought everything would be okay. at of people have been calling wanting to talk to me, with but at the end of the day, because there's hundreds of people lost. so that's the thing to focus on in a moment like this. >> i want to continue our discussions now in our intelligence. pete williams is also watching all of this play out. pete to the extent that everyone was caught by surprise, what's going on right now at the highest levels of u.s.

the u.s. homeland is under no credible net. but some city police departments have stepped up their street patrols. new york city probably responded first, sending out -- -- a new york state police say they're stepping up their presence at public gathering. police chiefs across the country are telling their officers be extra vigilant and many concert halls and sportses arenas tonight say they're adding extra security tonight. >> they're calling this a sophisticate attack that's never been seen before 68 but there waiss similar attacks in moscow. >> they obviously communicated

with each other, there were multiple sites so this was coordinated and they had some advanced weapons, which is not that common because of their gun laws there. so they had to communicate there such good surveillance on cell phones and such good communications by the intelligence gathserring in europe, especially in france, especially in great britain and in the united states so they may have been communicated evie kwa social media in code. we're going to have much more on this special edition of

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we're back our special date line coverage of the attacks in paris. a journaaist with france 24. she was at a restaurant when people were getting shot. describe what you saw in that restaurant. >> reporter: i was in the restaurant with my friend and all of a sudden we heard these huge gunshots, loud explosions and everybody jumped to the floor in confusion and panic. i was lying on the floor and i looked up for a minute and i saw small gunshots coming through

the window and people were lying down. i wasn u aware that anybody had been fatality wounded and i looked at the woman next to me and she had been shot in the te , and i wasn't sure she was breathing. we stayed in the restaurant for a while. i'm sure until we thought it was going to be safe to leave. as soon as we thought we would be safe, my friend and i made a quick get away. i live 15 minutes away and so we ran to get to my flat. they didn't come inside the restaurant. it seemed to be a drive by, although it also seemed that

guns and fired another round, and so we were unsure whether it was over or not. and generally there was a feeling of terror. >> and then when it was over and you made your way out of the restaurant, can you give us a sense for the magnitude of what you saw? >> i don't think to the impact really hit us initially and what was really strange was that nowhere else was anybody aware of what had just taken place. literally just a number of, you know, blocou down, people weren't aware that there had been a shooting, we were running out screaming, crying, and people in all the neighboring cafes and clubs and bars didn't have any idea. but it wasn't surprising to me when i heard later reports that it was a coordinated attack bendcause to me personally, the feeling i had was exactly to the

feeling i had during the "charlie hebdo" attacks, that it was something larger, something more sinister. >> you're a journalist, but to be it in, to witness it pore yourself, how ar you procesng emotionally what you've been through. >> it's funny you ask that, because i'm not sure i am processing it emotion ly ly. i think it's very matter of fact to me. i think that's normal. that's the way my friend who was with me felt. it's like it wasn't real, it wasn't happened. it's the kind of thing that happens in films. it's the kind of thing i watch and i write about all the time and it's not something is that you ever factor coming into your world. >> you mentioned this "charlie hebdo" attack, less than a year ago, and now this. paris is a exampling, wonderful city that so many people know d enjoy.

but to watch this, what is this doing, do you think to the collective psyche of the people who call paris home right now? >> i think with my knowledge of -- with what i went through, what the city went through during "charlie hebdo," i think it gives people a stronger sense of identity and a stronger sense of what it means to be alive, what it means to be with your loved ones, that's definitely how i feel. so i think i would say i'm an expat living in paris, i think that it makes people cherish their city more and want it to be protected and want the people to be united, that's what i think. >> to witness what you witnessed and then you no doubt heard about the siege at the concert hall. what did you feel when you heard

>> i felt like i had been punched in the stomach, because i felt like we were so lucky, i felt like it was too good to be true, in a strange sense that we got out and we were fine, completely unscathed, a tiny piece of glass hit me in the face and i wasn't aware of how many people died in the restaurant. and i thought this is crazy, the number of people that were injured. when i heard about the hostage situation, i suddenly thought that this is so gruesome and i can't imagine the fear that that must have brought to the people being held hostage in there for an hour. >> charlotte, you have been through a lot and we appreciate you taking the time and sharing your account with us.

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welcome back. darkness in the city of lightses tonight. reports of 140 people dead and more than 100 wounded. the head of the paris police said all the attackers are now believed to be dead. this was the scene tonight. paris was under attack friday, terror struck at multiple e locations. gun fire, hostages, more than 100 people killed. at another site.

more gun fire. it began after dark. 80,000 people were watching a game between france and germany when multiple explosions were heard outside. one of those spectate ors was the president himself. gunmen stormed inside and started shooting anyone in sight. at least 11 were reported killed. nearby bars and restaurants were evacuated. >> police officers hiding me signed vans and dozens and dozens of firefighters who were closing off the road. you heard somebody got shot, then you hear there were five or six shots that went off. then there was a dozen shots from an ak-47 rifle and that the

and more carnage, an american band was playing when a dozen gun men opened fire into the audience. some escaped, but those left behind were left at the mercy of the gunmen. the siege ended when police stormed the theater. there had been at least seven attacks in total around the city. police ordered people to stay indoors. the french president who had within whisked from the stadium ordered a state of emergency and closed the borders. there's been no claim of responsibility yet of the death and destruction carried out in paris this morning. richard, there was a time that something like this happened, the first name that would come

lately with we talk about isis. any signatures here to point one way or the other? >> reporter: well you have competing signatures, and i think it's important to think of this not as a series of coordinated attacks, but one attack. this was a military style commando attack. and the first bombing, the series of bombings at the stadium, not coincidentally, one of the most important soccer games of the year, broadcast life on national television, the french president inside. that kind of attack would draw a lot of attention. it would draw first responders, it would draw police, security services, then a second or even third or fourth team carried out the much more deadly phase of the attack, opening fire at restaurants at nearby bars and then the hostage and massacre in the concert hall.

so a that leafs the question, who can do this kind of attack, you have to stockpile the weapons, you have to organize a team, you have to have people it suggests who have military experience. and one senior terrorism official i spoke to says it's likely in his assessment al qaeda or an al qaeda affiliate. they are familiar with grnd attacks on an international scale. al qaeda hasn't been doing much since the overshadowing of isis. and isis and al qaeda fight for the recruiting of attackers. if it were isis, u.s. counter terrorism officials say it would be a new kind of isis, it would be an isis that is now truly

international. an isis that is more dangerous, an isis that has more recently claimed to carried out suicide attacks in what i route on thursday. an isis that carried out an attack on a russian airplane. it would be significantly different out of their area of operations and it would say things about the u.s. foreign policy. it would say the u.s. war on isis, the u.s. strategy on isis doesn't now seem to be working. >> let me bring in the editor of defense, the french president already vowing to retaliate

easier said than done in a world where it's not necessarily staid actsor actsors. >> the u.s. and france has been working together on this fight that stretches from nigeria to the indian ocean. this is an enormous terrorism effort and how to fight on this attack when we're not sure who actually conducted the attack is a strong statement. >> let's look at this a little farther back in terms of the united states and what things might have been missed here and how vulnerable we might be. looking at the weapons, reports of grenades and the sort of things used tonight. would that be more difficult for a group to use in this country? >> reporter: this in country the

attack, or a homegrown inspired attacks, a lot of counter terrorism officials saying there's no evidence of any kind of credible attack here. but it's grenades, arms that domestic homeland officials are concerned about. it's clearly different for europe. this is where the foreign fighters are coming from. that's not who jihadi john was, he was a britain who went straight to the war there. so there's still that large ocean that's keeping america at a distance from this fight. >> we have seen this before, we serge saw the mumbai attack, and we realize how vulnerable we are. >> reporter: the government is figuring out how to blend and

attack of overseas the war that is a counter terrorism effort. so this country has seen this lone wolf attack, but it isn't a large co-ordinated attack. just recently the secretary of homeland security has asking to have a new alert system. there's a fear that if that alert system was sparked u was even invoked once, it would cause panic amongst to the journalists or among the public. they're already trying to get ahead of that game. >> when we come back, the latest reports from paris about these attacks, and we show you footage of the american national anthem

france is under astate of emergency tonight, more than 100 people killed at multiple locations, a large number of those people at a theater in paris. what are you hearing from your colleagues in paris, specifically if we could talk about what happened at the theater, was it purely inside or

>> reporter: it was in multiple location, and absolutely horrible. according to some witnesses who wchblt to the theater, they arrived from is back stairs and they began to fire on people. multiple fire, the setting of the people while listening to the concert. then i heard that one attacker had a -- one couple was absoluteea petrified and the couple began to shake. he looked at a woman and the woman began to throw to his face

and then there was panic. one one -- three were outside the theater. and another terrorist shot himself near the theater. >> so that was seven different locations of attacks. >> seven different locations u three explosions outside the stadium, then you had multiple atacks across the street, at a restaurant and then to the hokestage situation another this theater, with which is a musical in paris, it would be inside broadway broadway. some people shootingthn the

attack inside broadway. >> we were watching the footage of the -- >> it was suicide bombers were tonated with vests apparently and a tank of gas outside the stadium when the president was there, the president was according to our properties, he was however quickly -- and it was thought at the beginning hearinging the explosi hions they realized that it was not attac and then the police arrived and said that it as suicide bombers. >> a white house correspondent, thank you very that late information. we appreciate it. 're back in a moment on this special ed the addition of dateline with how these attacks

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. we're back on this special edition of dateline with our continuing coverage of the deadly terror attacks in paris, for a look at how the

air travel. >> even though to the he french president has declared a state of emergency. we checked with the u.s. airlines that fly into paris, american airlines says it cancelled one flight out of dallas tonight, but of its other flights, some of those, all those prepared to flight tonight. same with united airlines and delta. all flights flying to believe. at jfk airport. wnbc spoke to one passenger waiting to depart to frantz. >> we saw it a couple of hours, we are very under shock, it is very shocking. >> are your family and friends okay. >> well we have not talked to them, but they should be okay. >> we also checked with the faa this evening that says it is

coordinating with french and u.s. aviation authorities but right now it's not -- the faa does say it is prepared to take any action in the event action is warn rapted. there's always beefed up, stepped skup in security rldwide and we are likely to see that in the days to come. there's no specific or kreshl -- it's aware of no specific or credible threat against the united states homeland. when we come back on this special edition of date line, we'll go to kier simmons for a live update on the attacks in paris. it's why we, at university of phoenix, count your relevant work and

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what's the matter with the child? >> what do you do as a journalist. as a parent. how do you tell the story? this isn't just news, this is people's lives. this child has just been brought across the border, she couldn't walk on her own. she looks flushed and

dehydrated. in france and there you see the one world trade center, it's can colors ablaze with the colors of france. before we leave you tonight, we want to go back to nbc's kier still mons in long. >> tonight the death toll in

authorities in paris are putting it as high as 140. some from multiple attacks in across the city. in one case we're hearing of four men firing into a restaurant for more than a minute and then turning and walking away, in another case two suicide bombers where a match was taking place. in the worst instance, 100 hostages have been killed in a concert hall. witnesses say that attackers killed people one by one. faced with terrorism, trance must be strong, big and firm, the terrorists want to scare us, but face with fear, we are a nation who knows how to defend ourselves and we're talking about perhaps this worst attack

having to go bag into the history books examples as bad as they are experiencing tonight. >> that wraps up our special edition of "dateline." for now i'm lester holt knorr for all of us at nbc news.