ayman? >> reporter: thanks, steve. at this hour, we know 31 are dead, 270 more are wounded after tuesday's attack. isis has claimed responsibility for the bombings. zaventem airport will remain closed today and tomorrow. at least four people were involved with the attacks at the airport and metro station, and there's conflicting information being reported. but the associated press is now reporting that according to one french official, and one european official, the suspected bomb maker for the paris attacks was one of two dead suicide bombers at the brussels' airport. those two officials, who say they have direct knowledge of the investigation, told the associated press that laachraoui's dna was found there. he was already wanted in connection with the november paris attacks. a french police official told the ap that laachraoui's dna was found on the suicide vests used in the paris attacks back in november. we do not know at this hour if that alleged bomb maker is one of the suspects captured on security footage at ai

ayman? >> all right, bill neely live for us here in brussels. >>> let's bring in robin, a fellow at her taj foundation specializing in terrorism and national security. always good to have you with us. let's talk about brussels itself and why brussels may have been targeted by this particular network. >> well, isis had a network already in the country obviously, seemed to be based in the district of maalbeek. this is a group which had seen its momentum stall somewhat in iraq and syria, although it should be remembered it still has a large amount of territory. belgium doesn't have a counter terrorism, it was seen as soft target. when the arrest happened of salah abdeslam i think it expedited the plans. lots of regain momentum, try and recruit new people to its cause. and the results were clear. >> so, robin, i'm curious to get your thoughts about when you look back over the past four months in terms of what happened in paris in november, what we saw in brussels on tuesday, have we been able to

>> ayman? >> okay. sounds good. it seems we may have lost steve clemons who is actually on the phone. we'll get back to him. we'll go back to jim cavanaugh. one of the questions i had regarding this investigation, one of the explosions took place in the departure hall. that's not necessarily a secured area in the sense that there are no check points for those going in and out of brussels airport and that it was a public space. are you at all surprised that there was not additional security, layers of check point at brussels airport, given the arrest that took place on friday, the sense of high alertness that brussels and belgium authorities said they were at as a result of that arrest? >> yeah. it is somewhat surprising. you know, you would think that airports certainly there in brussels with what's happened after paris and other european airports and we have all been through some of them would have ramped that up. you know, the israeli model as you know, ayman, we have been through the tel aviv airport, has layered

what do you see over there, ayman? >> well, right now i can tell you, two water trucks, the water cannon trucks have moved in. they've really surrounded this group. the police has set up a cordon. a position cordon in parallel formation. they have now really pushed and surrounded them at least on two sides. they're trying to move this group out slowly. you're seeing the police move in formation tightly more around the group. the group itself has lit up a flare that is burning in the middle of the crowd. and as you mentioned a short while ago we did hear the sound of a small little, perhaps sound explosion or sound bomb. not sure if that was something from the crowd or something from the police to try and clear some people out. but that was an explosion that we heard. obviously it was not something to rattle everyone up because they're still very much in the middle of the square. but have been pushed off a little bit to the side. the police are now really trying to separate what appears from our vantage point, those tha

i'm ayman mohyeldin.'re live from place de la bourse here in brussels where today right wing protesters dressed in black marched into the city center here. hundreds of riot police pushed them back and dispersed them with water cannons. police say about a dozen protesters were arrested. >>> in a new series of raids that took place across the country today, 13 house searches were carried out. nine people were taken in for questioning. five were later released. and today another deadly suicide bombing, this time terrorists struck in lahore, pakistan. police say 63 people, mostly women and children, were killed. and more than 300 were injured in the attack at a children es park on easter sunday. it was crowded with christians celebrating easter. >>> back home though on the campaign trail, candidates for president are waging a war of words against each other on how to best protect the united states from terror. hillary clinton and donald trump have clashed over whether the u.s. should rethink its involvement i

i am ayman live from belgigiube. brussels. a massive manhunt.his is seen before the attack in the airport. the officials appealing for help. authorities believe he fled before the attack. so far, he has not been identified. in the meantime, there are new details about the two brothers identified as suicide bombers. one at the airport. one on the subway train and expert tells nbc news the brothers spied on a top nuclear researcher and hoped to build a so-called dirty bomb. now, authorities have also said the brothers helped facilitate the paris attacks drawing a link between those two tragedies and also today, there was a court hearing for the suspect in the paris attacks who was finally captured in belgium last friday. his attorney said salah abdeslam is not told about the attacks and will not fight extradition to france. joining me now is foreign editor for the daily beast and msnbc contributor chris dickey and political senior correspondent ryan. thank you both for joining us. if i can begin with you. it's a surprise for many to see salah abde

joining us live from brussels, nbc correspondent ayman mohyeldin. >> good morning. we're getting a picture of the identity of the attackers. overnight, belgian police confirmed the identity of the three individuals. two suicide bombers who carried out the attacks, the brothers, khalid and ibrahim el bakraoui and the third suspect, laachraoui. the connection to the paris attacks is becoming a little bit clearer. a lot has to do with the apartment raided last week by belgian authorities in which they believe one of the brothers rented the apartment under a false identity. they found the dna connecting them to salah abdeslam. he was captured last friday. this morning, the identity of that third suspect who was now on the run according to the police also has connections to syria. they believe najim laachraoui actually travelled to syria back in 2013, returning to europe before he was also involved in activities here that they say were related to terrorism. two brothers had a criminal background. both of them sentenced according to belgian law enforcement to nine and fiv

i have a question forame ayman.re being told on one hand that it's a sophisticated, planned attack, something that's been in the works for a while. on the other hand the timing is not suspicious, it's clear that it happened a few days after salah abdeslam's arrest. it seems retaliatory in that respect. ho you do you square those two things? >> i would say look at it from a few different perspectives. you could say that this is not sophisticated in the sense that it's maybe two individuals with their explosives who went to these locations. on the other hand you could say it's sophisticated because it requires the coordination. even after salah abdeslam was arrested the cells were still capable of being activated. do they demonstrate that if abdeslam had been the leader and after he was taken down they were compelled to attack. either because they felt he would rat them out or to avenge his capture. >> i want to ask you about connecting the dots. because the entire country became conversant in the concept of breaking

ayman mohyeldin is standing by for us. ay men, in your opinion this area of molenbeek, abdeslam growing up in this area. characterize what you were saw when you were on the streets there. what you learned? >> at the time we visited it was shortly after the paris attacks, there was a lot of attention put on this district within brussels, a lot of intelligence as well as a lot of surveillance from count terrorism officials who were focused in on this particular neighborhood. one of the reasons, the mastermind of the paris attacks was belgian, spent time in molenbeek, believed to have been from the area. so, too, was the brother of salah abdeslam who actually went through and carried out one of the suicide detonations at the paris attacks on that night. now, keep in mind salah abdeslam is believed to have been one of the attackers involved in attack but never actually went through with detonating the explosives on him. when he left paris authorities believed they escaped to molenbeek. one of his older brothers, salah abdeslam

ayman mohyeldin joins me. describe what happened when this group, not only came into the square, but were separated by police from what i could see from people who came out for that unity march anyway. >> yeah, i mean, the scene here since tuesday has been a very peaceful scene. this was a makeshift memorial on the steps of the historic stock exchange in the center of brussels. a common tourist area. for the past several days a lot of people by the thousands, families, different walks of life, coming, laying wreaths, flowers, candles, flags in the heart of it all. today, there was supposed to be a large march known as the march against fear that was to be organized. police actually asked organizers not to go through with that march because of security concerns as well because it would be draining a lot of resources from the city's police away from the ongoing criminal investigation. what happened, somewhat unexpectedly, is that a group of right-wing marchers made their way here into the heart of the square. th

ayman mohyeldin, thank you. great reporting. >>> we're joined by nbc global correspondent bill neely in brussels. bill, we've been talking this morning about some of the divisions in belgium, even before we saw this terrorist attack last tuesday. brilliantly really laid out a lot of them, linguistic, cultural, neighborhood differences. talk to us about the group nation, the black-clad group who showed up who have been described as far right nationals to soccer hooligans. who are they? how pervasive is that movement in brussels? >> they're one of a number of right-wing self-declared actually fascist groups in belgium. and really, the right wing has been growing, or the far right growing in belgium over a number of years. and the isis attacks on paris and brussels has only increased their momentum, if you like. you can see it all over europe. it's not just in belgium. you've got more votes in france for the right wing group there, a group in germany called alternative for germany, and you can see them in denmark,

ayman mohyeldin is in brussels. all right, ayman, what is the latest on the investigation. >> reporter: well, joy, that investigation obviously as you can imagine continues to develop by the day. today a ver significant development in the sense that the belgian federal prosecutor was the very first -- filed the very first charges, if you will, in connection with tuesday's terrorist attacks. those were filed against faycal cheffou. now, he is the first person connected to today's attacks. he has been charged with participating in a terrorist group, participating or carrying out terrorist assassination, which means murder, and attempted terrorist assassination which means attempted murder by american standards. in addition to that, two other individuals that were arrested in connection with other plots that were being carried out or planned were also charged with participating in a terrorist group, so three different individuals now being charged with terrorism-related activity, the most severe of them being faycal ch

ayman mohyeldin, on the scene for us in brussels. ayman, thanks very much. turn now to malcolm nance. he's, of course, an msnbc terrorism analyst, former u.s. counterterrorism and intelligence officer. malcolm, good to have you back. i want to first start with something john kerry said in that interview with richard engel. because it didn't ring true. he was basically praising belgium. do they deserve praise right now or -- obviously, it sounded more like diplomatic speak to me. trying to say, hey, let me tell you the good they're doing. but this is a country whose counterintelligence operation seems woefully unprepared for this, is it not? >> i think secretary kerry is being diplomatic, yes, on some extent. but when you look at it within the picture of the entire global intelligence community, that is a country that is beleaguered. it's a country that has been besieged, even before the paris attacks. i believe that belgian authorities are doing everything that they can. certainly, they have some intelligence shortfalls. they have a very bad intelligence org

. >> you do have this sense of history ayman. when the president sets foot on cuban soil, the first sitting american president since calvin coolid coolidge. that will be the picture shown in history classes for decades to come. this is a legacy issue for president obama who believes in engagement over estrangement. but of course the timing is also critical. because it comes in the middle of this incredibly divisive presidential campaign, and a current and former candidate on the republican side are both cuban-americans have been very vocal in their criticism against president obama, that being narco rubio and ted cruz. and so there is a heavy air of politics. and what the world will be watching will be to see what the president says and does. he claims he is going to push hard against human rights abuses for economic reforms. for democracy, and, in fact, on tuesday, what will be the centerpiece of this push, he's giving a speech here, and the white house claims absolutely unsensored, and they are choosing the people who will be i

we want to start with ayman mohyeldin. he's in the schaerbeek neighborhood, the area where the newest raids are taking place. what can you report this morning? >> yeah, thomas. this is very an ongoing operation. we apologize for the shaky camera. we have been pushed back from the street where we were set up. you can see off to my shoulder in the distance, a variety of belgian forces currently working in this operation. what we have been able to see are explosive units. the explosives teams responsible for detonating any controlled sustance or suspicious devices found. a short while ago, we saw members of the team get dressed in uniforms, the heavy ones, protective gear and moved some type of object onto the train tracks or rail tracks behind us. we also saw mechanical robot that is common with these types of scenes. now, police continue to push members of the media and the public back. a lot of folks here have been looking out from their windows down on to the scene of the ongoing operation. we have heard a few explosions

ayman mohyeldin is among our team of reporters in brussels. he went there to find out more about the investigation. ayman, one of the features of the investigation, learning this was two brothers, split up, separated in two different attacks. >> yeah, brian, this is, apparently, a hallmark, if you will, over the past several attacks that have taken place in europe. you had the abdelslam brothers involved in the paris attacks, here in brussels, you have the bakraoui brothers. there was a significant development overnight. this was based on a tip provided by a taxi driver who identified these three individuals, told belgian police he had picked them up from a building in the district of schaerbeek here in brussels. we went to that building today, and it was there we were able to speak to some locals about the community, about the raid that took place. belgian police say inside that building, they found dozens of key pieces of evidence, suggesting that that was used as a staging ground for explosives. among the things they found, hydrogen peroxid

ayman has just landed in the city center if brussels.ng us by phone, what can you tell us from what you're seeing? >> well, right now, brussels is certainly waking up to a very different reality here. down here in the city center, it seems relatively quiet. the news of what we're reporting, the confirmation of these two attackers still making its way around folks. i haven't had a chance to speak to any individuals or get their reactions. it would not come as a surprise given the connection brussels has had with the paris attacks and particularly to the concern of many of the foreign influence that fighters have coming back into brussels. we identified najim lashari who officials believe traveled from syria in 2013. going to syria and then coming back. as we saw in the paris attacks, that may not come as a surprise to many. also traveled here, at roughly the same time, and not just a direct correlation between these two individuals, but it is widely believed that a group of belgian fighters who traveled into syria around that same time ha

ayman mohyeldin, thanks very much. let's go back to london and rehema ellis who has more news. >> reporter: jonathan, we are getting new information about those who remain on this plane and now we're told it's a total of seven people on the plane. let me give you a breakdown of it. we are told that it includes the captain, his assistant, a flight attendant, a security officer and three passengers. again, this information is different from what we had learned before, but as we have been pointing out this is a very fluid situation. this information coming from the egyptian aviation authority and coming out of the news conference they were conducting about the number of people on board. the security officer is still on board. there are three foreigners. we do not know the nationality of the foreigners. it was mentioned during the news conference that this passenger, the hijacker, informed them that he had an explosive belt attached to him. they do not know whether or not that is credible, but they proceeded as if it were.

ayman, found shortly after the tugboat crashed, and conklin, missing for over 24 hours. at 11:18 on sunday, divers recovered conklin's body, and his brother says tim called him with concerns before boarding. >> whether he had a premises -- premonition or a bad feeling or what, it's so sad something like that would happen when he had that kind of a feeling. >>> the 90-foot tugboat was one of three escorting a barge with a crane. the specialist was the boat on the right and the operation drifted towards the construction barge under the tappen zee bridge, and they radioed in. >> we are too close, and we have to move left. they couldn't move in time. >> the marine unit for county p.d. will stay on site until and in the event the third crew member in found. >> reporter: and containment booms now surround the 90-foot tugboat that is said to have leaked around 5,000 gallons of fuel into the river, and crews are here cleaning that up, and strategizing how to get the strategizing how to get the boat out of the river. boat out of the river. every day to be his safe haven, and lead

joining me is amman ayman monhedim. >> reporter: we'll start with the man who is the first individual to be charged with actual crimes in connection with the attacks that took place here in brussels. the man identified by the federal prosecutors release. in fact, his apartment search did not yield weapons or explosives found during that particular search of his residence. now, he was arrested on thursday as we understand it. but no specific role has been ascribed to him by the federal prosecutor. what we do know is he's charged with participating in a terrorist group, murder through terrorism assassination is what they refer to it here in belgium. so that was a significant development in connection with tuesday's attacks. two other arrests that have been made have connections with activities in france, in particular, an individual who was arrested in connection with a rape that took place in france on thursday night. and that individual here has been identified by the belgian federal prosecutor in connection with that. so a lot of pieces of the puzzle. federal prosecutors are not spec

nbc's foreign correspondent ayman mohyeldin in brussels.e release of that man there, ayman? >> reporter: well, it's significant, i guess, from the public's perspective, that they felt the public prosecutor made headway following last tuesday's attack. keep in mind, this individual who was originally held by the name was faycal cheffou. a lot of belgian media reported this individual was the man in the white jacket with that bucket hat on. so a lot of people felt a sigh of relief at least one of the key participants was in police custody. so you can imagine their surprise when the federal prosecutor said they don't have enough evidence to charge with the three crimes they originally allege. so he had been released. and just right after that, almost, the belgian police put out another appeal to the public saying that they still need help in identifying who that white man is who participated in that attack last tuesday. so we're almost right back to where we were a week ago without any further suggestions that they're getting closer to identif

for more let me bring in colonel jack jacobs and nbc's ayman. ja colonel, let me start with you. you can say there are people exposed to jihad. we're not talking about one lone person getting a gun and shooting people, but pounds and pounds of explosives fairly complicated to make. how much is the training happening in syria affecting what the capabilities of folks are? >> almost all of it. the skills that were acquired in this attack were all gleaned in syria. so when you have lots and lots of people going to syria to learn how to do these kinds of things, then you've got a really big problem across europe. and it's something that because of complacency, european countries, police forces and military establishments, they've been loathe to get involved in that to try to figure out what to do and how to act, and that complacency has resulted in enormous tragedy. >> ayman, someone who has reported from iraq and syria for many years, when you look back at the trajectory of jihadi violence, there is '04 and '05, and this bombing, there seems to be a connection between what was happen

>> nbc's ayman mohyeldin reporting in brussels. thank you. quick break, a deeper look at the new raids and the new arrests as officials in europe stop at nothing to thwart a potential attack and back inside brussels. the connection between the recent attacks there and the cell behind the november 13th terror attacks in paris. our team coverage continues in a moment. and to connect us with the wonderment of nature. the detail on this surface book is amazing. the saliva coming off and, you got this turning. that's why i need this kind of resolution and computing power. being able to use a pen like this. on the screen directly with the image. it just gives me a different relationship to it. and i can't do that on my mac. this is brilliant for me. ♪ this is lloyd. to prove to you that the better choice for him is aleve. he's agreed to give it up. ok, but i have 30 acres to cover by sundown. we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. yeah, i was ok, but after lunch my knee started hurting again so... more pills. yep... another pi

let's bring in msnbc foreign correspondent ayman mohyeldin. update us on the other new details in this investigation. >> yeah, the investigation now is actually moving on two fronts. you have the continued raids that have been taking place across the country, that includes over the weekend, at least 13 different home searches. not just here in brussels, but in other districts as well as other cities in the country. as a result of those raids, nine people were taken in to custody. five of them have been released. four of them continue to be interrogated by belgian police officials. they're being asked -- a judge is being asked, rather, to have their detention extended while those interrogations continued. the biggest development in regards to tuesday's attacks is, as you mentioned, we now have criminal charges filed against one individual, identified in the belgian prosecutor's statement. that is the first charge brought against an individual in connection with last tuesday's terror attacks and they involve terrorism. there's three different ch

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chris. >> ayman mohyeldin, thank you. i want to go to nbc's keir simmons on what has been a morning of fast breaking developments. i understand you have new information from the federal prosecutor. what can you tell us? >> chris, that's right. we just got a release from the federal prosecutor's office here in belgium. and we have been picking through it. it looks as if from that that there were nine people arrested and apprehended in the past 24 hours. this is how they break it down. they say that yesterday, three people were arrested outside, outside the federal prosecutor's office, and they were taken into du custody. two of those were released. another man was arrested in the street close by. two more men were then arrested in a car leaving brussels. so that brings you to six arrests overnight. two properties searched. and then today, three more arrests, we are told, and particularly in that area where ayman was talking to you. two of those people were shot in the leg. we're told, and it's a complex web, but we're told

ayman javers has more. >> and comey laid it out in the hearing that's still actually going on right now. he made thecation that this is very much about the -- the case that this is very much about the future of law enforcement in the country. do we want a society in which law enforcement doesn't have the ability because of advanced encryption to get action to certain information in this country, even with the lawful warrant and even with the court order. here's what he had to say. >> we're moving to the place where they're warrant proof places in our life, and yes, these devices are spectacular because they do hold our whole lives. they're different than a briefcase. different than a drawer so it's a source where -- a place with a tremendous reasonable expectation of privacy. but if we're moving to the place that's not possible to overcome that, that's a world we never lived in before in the united states. that has profound consequences for public safety. we shouldn't drift there. >> and then melissa, apple's general counsel bruce sewell testified today, making apple's case that this en

ayman mohyeldin, nbc news, brussels. >>> the sheriff in loudoun county has been cleared of any criminalrongdoing as it relates to accusations related to his re-election last year. sheriff mike chapman had been accused of taking donations from corporations and then reporting them as personal donations. he also was accused of committing computer trespass for obtaining e-mails between one of his employees who was running against him and a fairfax county employee. the the city of alexandria investigated all of that and as it regards the campaign donations, the investigation says that sheriff chapman included the names of the corporations on the required paperwork. and as it relates to the e-mails, they were obtained using the freedom of information act and no laws were broken. >>> we're going to tell you coming up who former maryland governor is the supporting for congress. >>> the school redistricting plan has some local parents concerned. we'll tell you many in the latino community say they feel left out of the decisionmaking process. >>> blustery tonight and tomorrow. coming up, i'll wal

. >> joining me in brussels, my colleague and friend ayman mohaldin. you've been reporting all day. big developments many terms of putting the pieces together of what the connection was to the paris attacks which i think people from the first moment this happened suspected, it looks like we have good confirmation. >> we're getting confirmation of the connection between paris as well as what happened here in brussels. but in addition to that, we're getting confirmation to the individuals involved in this attack and syria. you look at the big picture of this, the microcosm of this particular attack in brussels, and paris, it really is a cocktail of the worst scenario that u.s. and western law enforcement and intelligence officials are concerned about. you had individuals, some of them born here in belgium, radicalized, traveled to syria, learned their craft, learned how to make bombs, getting battlefield experience, bringing back that knowledge in addition to what they know about this country and getting around in europe to evade capture, evade detection, and plan out these two attack

msnbc's ayman mohyeldin is on the phone with us. we hear this might have been something to do with a terrorist event, but egypt government saying not the case. >> reporter: the initial indication we're getting both from the cypriot ministry of foreign affairs as well as the initial reporting there, that this did not have any political motivation behind it. in fact the man who is believed to have been the hijacker identified at seif eldin mustafa hijacked the plane motivated by what's being referred to as a personal matter. this is a flight that took off from alexandria heading towards cairo, should have been a very short flight, not a lot of passengers, about you was redirected towards l aisarnaca cyprus. we understand from the egypt presidency they were following it closely. egypt air was providing -- and reported that all of those that had been taken hostage, including the members of the crew, have been released unharmed. they are working to try to get those people back to egypt and whatever destinations they were headed there wer

ayman mohyeldin is among our team of reporters in brussels.eatures of the investigation, learning this was two brothers, split up, separated in two different attacks. >> yeah, brian, this is, apparently, a hallmark, if you will, over the past several attacks that have taken place in europe. you

jose. >> ayman mohyeldin in brussels, thank you very much.nders won a big weekend. >> right now, we have a lot of momentum. we're focusing on wisconsin, new york state. we have a path to victory. we are going to win this nomination process. >> i'm joined now by "new york times" political reporter, nicholas confessore as well as usa today reporting susan. you have been writing about this as a clean sweep for sanders, alaska, hawaii, and washington. is it nervous time for clinton, or doesn't seem like the numbers are looking a lot better for bernie sanders. >> no question, bernie sanders had a great weekend. big victories in all three states that were holding caucuses by double digits. another sign he can do very well, especially among voters who are mostly liberal in two of the states, mostly white, and especially when they are caucus contests. definitely deserves congratulations on that. however, the math continues to be with hillary clinton. you know, hillary clinton needs to get about a third of the remaining delegates. bernie sanders needs

. >> nbc's foreign correspondent, ayman mohyeldin, is in the district where one of the raids took place. what more can you tell us as to whom they were targeting and how this relates either to what happened in brussels or what is suspected to be planned for paris? >> reporter: yeah. well, right now, we don't have any information as to who that individual that was shot was. what we do know from being eyewitnesses is that a police operation took place here in schaerbeek. plils approached a man who was standing on the tramway, which is the public transport system that runs right through the square behind me, and it's seen that they neutralized and that was word we got from one of the security sources on the ground. that did not explicitly determine whether he was killed or whether he was wounded. it seems the initial reports was that he was wounded in the leg and has been taken away from the scene. what happened afterwards is what we were able to see when we arrived here on the scene and that involved explosives team blo belonging to the belgian scene and cleay, there was something suspici

or a family member and blackmailing him with material they could use for a radioactive device. >> ayman mohyeldin, thank you very much. >>> we will go back to brussels for any developments throughout this hour. we turn to the escalating political fallout in united states in reaction to the attacks. donald trump wanted to legalize torture. ted cruz wants law enforcement to, quote, patrol and secure muslim neighborhoods. democrats disagree. >> one thing we know that does not work is offensive, inflammatory rhetoric that demonizes all muslims. there are millions of peace loving muslims living, working, raising families and paying taxes in this country. >> their children are our children's friends going to the same schools. they are our colleague in our workplaces. they are our men and women in uniform, fighting for our freedom. >> exit polls all over the country, the republican voters, who voted so far this year, agree with donald trump's calls to ban muslims from entering the united states, a large majority of gop primary voters from south carolina to illinois to texas to ohio, florida, v

ayman mohyeldin, we've seen this happen time and time again, especially with the paris attack attackstting information about the operation going on in molenbeek. it's far from over. according to the deputy mayor of brussels, he's told the associated press that, in fact, an emergency plan has been put in place for the residents of molenbeek who are not able to get back to their homes as a result of this on going operati operation. as we heard from richard engel, the sound of two believed to be explosions taking place a short while ago. but there's still a lot of concern that other individuals, other systems that may have been part of abdeslam's support network are still either at large or are holed up in some of the areas where the police have carried out this raid a short while ago. so we understand an emergency plan has been put in place to help with local residents unable to get back to their homes. police are trying to secure the area, they want to make it safe for the residents. we can see from those pictures it's nighttime there and that darkness will be a factor for the police.

now i want to bring in ayman. there are teenagers that have left to join isis? >> reporter: yeah, absolutely. we've had a chance to speand few hours here and getting people to talk on camera is very difficult. people are very open with the cameras turned off. when you tell them you want to speak with them on camera, they get very kind of reserved. there are some reasons for that. they are aware that this district has the largest number of, if you will, isis fighters that have left from any european district to join the battlefield of syria. i spoke to two fathers who have children that are vulnerable, in terms of their age group. these are young men, in their teens or early 20s. some of them unemployed, some of them educated. but it's a very difficult situation. when i asked them, why is this happening? why is this phenomena happening here? they gave me three reasons. the socioeconomic zone, not a lot of job opportunities, they complain of discrimination in the job market. they also talk about rising isla islamaphone ohio. i spoke to a person who works at the za

thank you so much, nbc's ayman mohyeldin. now i want to bring in the president of crowd strikes services. also with us, brian levin, for the study of hate and extremism at california state university. gentlemen, welcome to both of you. shawn, i want to start with you. one of the points that's been made by security officials i have talked to here is, look, these are not a couple of guys getting together. these are not disgruntled people. these are terror networks. they are sophisticated. they have improved the way they put these attacks together. what's your analysis of what you've seen and learned so far about what happened here in brussels? >> yeah, chris. i think that's exactly right. these are people who have been trained internationally. they are foreign fighters and very skilled in the construction of the explosive devices in the use of long guns, heavy weaponry. clearly they have been able to keep themselves off the radar for many months. they have what appears to be a strong network in brussels to allow them to be hous

ayman mohyeldin has more on that.ou for joining us that that is great news. >> reporter: they've been condemning terrorist attacks for as long as this community recalls. they definitely have problems in the communities. they recognize that radicalization is something that is happening in their midst. brussels and belgium have had a high number of people leave to join isis, perhaps more than any other european country per capita. one of the challenges, though, when you talk to some of the muslim leaders here, as we did today in molenbeek, about why they're having a hard time with this particular issue. and they tell you it cuts both ways. on one hand, there is a problem with the community being insulated and isolated from the rest of the country. they blame that on some issues and that makes the young people in the community vulnerable to radicalization and recruitment, by people and external forces from outside. so they are aware that that problem exists. they are working on trying to address it with various deradical

i want to bring in ayman mohyeldin. so much to talk about that we got out of the press conference. let's just start with what we know about the manhunt under way right now. >> yeah, there's been a lot of moving pieces to this. one of the interesting developments came from a tip actually from a taxi driver. we'll kind of piece this together, starting from the scene of the explosion. there was a bomb in a suitcase that did not detonate at the time of the initial two attacks that were carried out by suicide bombers. based on that, they were able to trace dna. that helped them identify a third suspect. they're still looking for him. they have not found him. there were conflicting reports earlier today in belgian media he had been arrested. that has proven not to be true. what has proven to be important is an apartment that was raided in schaerbeek. that was based off a taxi driver who saw the pictures of the three men on belgian media, called the police and said he picked up three individuals who met that description from an apartment in this neighborhood and that's what led police to

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msnbc's ayman mohyeldin is .er: this operation began a short time ago, it's been ongoing for a while. you can see this is a major boulevard here in brussels. off to my right further down perhaps you can see we know that belgian explosives experts are on this scene. we saw one of the members of the police force putting on his explosives vest as we've seen throughout the course of the past power police continue this ongoing operation. some witnesses have described the sounds of controlled explosions, we know that as we mentioned this is still very much an active operation that is taking place here. we are getting some reports initially still not conformed by the federal prosecutor's office that at least one person was neutralized as a result of this operation. what that exactly means still unclear, but the federal prosecutor's office has not commented on what is taking place here. police maintain a very tight perimeter, we've been able to just see a very strong presence of police. this is the second operation that

let's turn to nbc news foreign correspondent ayman mohyeldin. following the latest developments. thank you. take over. what do we know since yesterday? >> as you mentioned, chris, a lot of moving pieces to the puzzle. still waiting to hear from belgian authorities about the identity of the man. they don't know who it is. they've put out a picture, as you mentioned from the surveillance video, that slice, that came from the airport. they're asking the public for information about him. they believe he is still on the run, connected to what happened at the airport. we do know more about the brothers, though. ibrahim and khalid bakraoui. one blowing himself up after the airport, the other blowing himself up at the subway. officials believe the two individuals also were linked to the paris attacks, they provided a safe house for the paris attacks that took place in november in that country that left 130 people dead. in terms of what is happening here. there is also one key piece of the puzzle that remains unanswered and officials have told nbc news they don't have much leads on it. an

. >> well, malcolm, i'm told that ayman mohyeldin across the studio here has a confirmation of a credibleim on responsibility for today. >> that's correct, brian. getting confirmation. u.s. officials telling nx bc ne they believe the claim of responsibility that has been posted on a website that has been in the past credible, that has been affiliated with the terrorist group isis, has actually claimed responsibility for the brussels attack. the statement was posted on their website, known as the mac news agency. that was a short time ago. right now, u.s. officials believe that claim of responsibility to be credible. it's always very difficult for nbc to independently verify it, but as we have seen in the past, announcements and statements that have been posted on this particular website, through this particular group, has been in the past proven to be credible and true. now, this news website is loosely affiliated with the organization. in the past, it has been considered to be kind of like their media hub. we know isis has claimed responsibility in the past for many attacks, including th

. >> right now let's bring in ayman javers from washington. good morning. >> good morning, becky. still very early here on the east coast of the united states. a department of homeland security official tells me folks here in washington are tracking the developments. we're waiting to hear from the white house. the president obviously traveling in havana, cuba, today. of course, he's there with air force one and all the acue that monoof the presidency as well. we can expect a statement from the white house. i want to give you some context to this because this was something that officials in europe had feared starting on friday when they captured salah abdeslam, who was apparently the last remaining survivor of last year's paris attacks, had been on the run since then. he was captured in a shootout in belgium on friday. officials then said the threat level was very high. they said many more people were involved in those attacks in paris than they had necessarily thought. they also said that he told investigators after his capture that he was planning to restart something in brussels

joining us live from brussels, msnbc correspondent ayman mohyeldin. ayman, what can you tell us?ctive investigation as we've known for the past several hours. moving pieces to this, linking not only these three individuals to the paris attackers but also linking them to the fight in syria. we'll start with the development this is morning as you are reporting. conflicting reports out of belgium attributed to two different media outlets here saying th saying that jim laachraoui was captured in a city about 20 minutes away from brussels. other media reports saying he was not arrested and you can understand there's been conflicting reports. he also traveled at one point with a different alias so that could be a source of the conflicting reports. we are expected to hear from the federal prosecutor here in brussels in an hour's time. he'll explain more about these developments but a big breakthrough came in the identification of these three individuals, the two brothers you mentioned, ibrahim and khalid el bakraoui. the two brothers believed to be involved in the attack in the brussels

. >> and with that, i'd like to bring in ayman moynidine. >> yeah, let me pick up where alstair mcdonald left off. can you give us a sense -- i know you're saying if you can, that the city feels very much under siege. give us a sense of where you are right now and what you're seeing. we'll start from there. >> well i'm sitting in the reuters bureau sitting with people trying to cover the story. i'm looking at the streets, it's the mid-morning, in a busy commercial area but there are relatively few people out. there's not much traffic. >> i understand have you gotten any information yet from the european union in terms of the institutions in and around the subway station that may have been shut down as a result of at least this one explosion that we're hearing that -- at the moll abeck station? >> people have been told to stay in their offices or stay at home. although were told that the people close to parliament are working but not many people out on the streets. >> can we recap, how many specific explosions have we confirmed from the belgium authorities have taken place? >> well, there

on the phone is msnbc ayman mohyeldin. what can you tell us? government officially says the hijack situation is over and the hijacker has been arrested. this again is according to egypt air. egypt air is declaring the release of all hostages and arrest of the hijacker, they will continue to provide updates on this developing story. as for what happened earlier today and what continues to unfold, we know the egyptian government has been in close contact with the cypriot government, and that the egyptian government has also sent a plane to larnika to bring back all those stranded passengers who were either on their way to cairo before that plane was hijacked. the reporters were now getting is the situation is officially over. we still don't know much about the identity of the hijacker except his name. he was identified as seif eldin mustafa, but as far as the demands, that has not been verified. >>> we do have a lot of politics to get to, a new poll shows that donald trump is nearing the 50% mark with republican voters. he's approaching a majorit

meaning ayman and his family could return to life as usual but like the garbage, frustration has been piling up over the past year. >> translator: people are burning the rubbish to get rid of it. the fires are creating smoke and this smoke is creating health issues acknowledge especially breathing problems. there are now 2700 cases of respiratory illness. >> reporter: and those numbers will rise. with emergency services in disarray a plastic factory in another neighborhood has been burning for weeks. toxic fumes fan across homes. it is not clear who's run being the city. this war is making life harder, for some of the poorest people in the gulf. saudi arabia and its allies wanted to use their air power to reinstate abd rabbu mansour hadi, but the rebels wanted to have a bigger say in governing their country. it's been a year. neither side have be achieved its goal. imoku molu, al jazeera. >>> first elected leader since muslims overthrew the government over a year ago. thousands of people have been killed since violence broke out between muslims and christians in 2013. myanmar has a ne