our own ian williams with us tonight from bangkok with the latest. ian, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. indonesia thought it was beating terrorism. there has been tight security at western hotels and no major attacks in nearly four years. but today, terror returned to jakarta. chaos moments after the blasts. two explosions minutes apart. they shook the luxury jw marriott and ritz-carlton hotels, sending the injured spending into streets littered with glass and debris. >> i went out of the hotel and everything was quite crazy. >> it sounded like the earthquake that we had about a year or two ago. >> reporter: at least eight people died, several americans were among the injured. police said the blasts were inside the hotels' coffee shops during breakfast. this surveillance camera video shows the marriott lobby just as the bomb exploded from the cafe. two suicide bombers had breached tight security by checking in as guests. police say they based themselves in a room on the 18th floor of the marriott where the bombs were assembled and wher

and our own ian williams is there tonight. >> reporter: they flooded into the region this morning, asive, calculated show of force. the chinese government, determined to stifle the worst unrest this region has seen in decades. the security forces have locked down the city center, blocking every junction. but the city remains tense. officials say 156 people died sunday in clashes involving the country's han chinese majority and the minority muslims who have taken to the streets in protest against their treatment. the clashes have continued and chinese mobs roaming the streets seeking revenge. today the government organized the press visit to one of the city's biggest hospitals where almost half the 800 injured have been treated. most of those we saw here were han chinese suffering from head and stab wounds. this woman left with a fractured skull. it was so sudden i didn't know what was happening she told me. they say the hospital here was overwhelmed on sunday, but won't give any detailed breakdown of how many of the injured were muslims and how many were han chinese. in the city's ma

ian williams, nbc news, beijing. >>> when we continue this monday night, more on the summit in moscownd the lingering questions about who's really in charge in russia these days? >>> later mcnamara, a look back at the name and the man forever associated with vietnam. you say call nina, you get nina. you say play puccini, 12 sony speakers... play puccini. you say get me to the game, you get there step by step. with our voice activated sync technology, no one speaks your language like we do. we speak the 2010 ford fusion. get in... and drive one. i see you're flatulent in three languages... graduated top of your gas... (announcer) got gas on your mind? your son rip is on line toot. excuse me (announcer) try gas-x. powerful relief from pressure and bloating in a fast-dissolving strip. gas-x. pressure's off. what's worse, mosquitoes... or mosquito spray? huh? introducing off! clip-on repellent. lab tests show this new sprayless repellent really repels. in minutes its fan surrounds you with proven... off! protection wherever you're sitting. so don't spray it on -- clip it on. on a table, c

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let's go live to bangkok and nbc's ian williams. what's the latest on the investigation, ian?rter: well, thankfully, chris, that scare this morning turned out to be a hoax, although the four seasons hotel, a big luxury hotel in jakarta, had to be evacuated and searched carefully by anti-terror police. it is testament to the level of anxiety, the level of fear now in jakarta, anxiety among hotels who thought they had pretty good security against terror attacks and anxiety also among the general public who thought they'd put this behind them. hotels and shopping malls had seen their security stepped up, and also there is a big search on for the safe house or safe houses where these terrorists may have hidden. now police say progress of the investigation is slow, but they say the equipment, the method, the type of explosive was almost identical to that used in the bali bombs back in 2002, the one that killed 200-odd people. another bally bomb in 2005. now it was so similar that this does lead them to believe that it's the work of ji, gentleman ma jamaah islamiah, the terror group

nbc's ian williams has the latest on this. ood morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt. well the death toll has now risen to nine, and u.s. officials have confirmed that several americans are among the dozens injured. indonesia sources had defeated terrorism. it's been nearly four years since the last big attack. but this morning, terror returned to jakarta. the two blasts were just minutes apart. ripping through the j.w. marriott and ritz-carlton owe tells in the city's upscale business district. the injured spilled into streets littered with glass, as emergency services and anti-terror police rushed to the scene. witnesses described the horror of the marriott blast. >> it sounded like the earthquake that we had about a year or two ago. . >> a blast, you know, and a lot of smoke, and i woke up very quickly and everything was quite crazy. >> reporter: the hotels were popular with foreigners and indonesians. police said the ritz-carlton bomb went off in a hotel restaurant, as breakfast was being served. the marriott bomb

msnbc's ian williams is live in bangkok for us. ian, some suspicions, though, as to who might be responsible? >> reporter: suspicions, yes. and they've fallen on a group called j.i., which is a regional terror organization associated with al qaeda. now, this was the group that was responsible for the bali bombing back in 2002 in which more than 200 people died, as well as an earlier attack on the marriott hotel, the australian embassy, a string of attacks. but that we haven't seen anything from them for four years now. they've been hit hard by the indonesian government, by the terror police down there. a lot of their leaders are being captured and killed. it had been assumed that they'd been splintered, that there were breakaway groups, but they were no longer as being regarded as effective as they were a few years ago. but clearly the tactics would appear to be those of the j.i. this is a high-profile attack on a very visible western target. it's also a very sophisticated one, because although this was a suicide becoming, it was ve

live to nbc's ian williams in bangkok, thailand. what's the latest there?good morning, chris. well, investigators have been sifting through the wreckage of the marriott and the ritz-carlton hotels in jakarta, look for clues as to who the suicide bombers were, but more crucially the i didn't of the mastermind. investigators say they do have a suspect. he's a malaysian futuretigitivee name of noordin mohammad top. a former member of a regional terror group called jemaah islamiyah. this group had its heyday early in the decade. recall the earlier bombing of the marriott hotel, the australian embassy in jakarta, and the biggest of the lot, the bali bomb in 2002, that killed more than 200 people and was blamed on that group. now, the authorities in indonesia have been very effective in cracking down on j.i., they brought a lot of the leadership, arrested a lot of the leadership, killed a lot of them, and they had appeared to have been reduced the threat didn't appear to be as great but noordin top leads a breakaway faction of that group. they've been searching f

let's go live now to nbc's ian williams, who is in bangkok, thailand, for us. what's the latest there, ian? >> reporter: hello, chris. well the police gave a press conference awhile -- a short while ago, and they revised the figure for those who died back up to nine, with 53 injured. and of course, there were eight americans among those injured. although, officials say none of those injuries were life threatening. now, i heard a short while ago that one of those injured was an american businessman who runs a business there, a consultancy. and, in fact, he has been injured in -- been in the previous marriott bombing back in 2003. but i'm told that his injuries aren't serious. now, investigators continue to sift through the debris of the two hotels, the marriott and the ritz-carlton, looking to see if they can find the identity of those suicide bombers. but also, of course, the mastermind behind them. president yudhoyono, the indonesia's recently re-elected president, was there this morning to stress the urgency of finding these people. investigators say the chief

nbc's ian williams is there. >> reporter: chinese security forces do appear to be back in control of. but it remains tense following some of the worst unrest seen in this region in decades. they have continued to flood into the city. a massive and calculated show of force. the chinese government, determined to stifle days of turmoil here. helicopters have been dropping leaflets, trucks with loudspeakers cruising the streets, calling for unity. officials say 156 people have died, as hundreds injured in clashes involving the country's han chinese majority and the uighurs, a muslim minority, native to china's xinjiang region. the two sides blame each other for the violence. the government organized a visit to one of the city's biggest hospitals where most of the injured we saw were han chinese. most with head and stab wounds. sustained, they say, in unprovoked attacks by uighur mobs. it was indiscriminate. they attacked anyone, this woman told me, as she tended to her husband, who sustained serious head wounds. though she's in a uighur neighborhood, residents claim they're the victims o

let's go to nbc news ian williams who was in bangkok, thailand. and indonesia is praised by a lot of people around the world for successfully tackling terror groups. what's the approach to this now? >> well, i think they're pretty puzzled. certainly this has been a big blow, because they have appeared to do so well over the last four years. they appeared to -- it has been a pretty big crackdown against jemaah islamiyah, which is the regional terror group affiliated to al qaeda, who are now suspected to be behind this latest bomb. and a great deal of urgency down there to get to grips to this, to try and find out who was responsible. and from the investigation, there are some intriguing bits of information already beginning to emerge. one of the key questions is how these suicide bombers got the components, the bomb components inside a hotel, inside two hotels, with security very, very tight. though that security is mainly aimed at preventing vehicle bombs. now, investigators today suggesting that bomb components may have been smuggled in inside a

ian williams in bangkok, thailand. the country's president wrapped up a visit to the site.hat can you tell us? >> reporter: that's right, chris. he was there trying to impress upon investigators the urgent need to track down those responsible for the attack which was the first serious attack in indonesia in almost four years. they really thought they'd put this kind of thing behind them, and it has come as a major blow to the world's most populous muslim nation. as they sift through the wreckage, trying to find clues to the identity of the suicide bombers, they're also searching for who might be the mastermind behind this. now, investigators say, they already believe they have a suspect. that person is malaysian terror fugitive by the name of noordin top, associated, has been for years with jemaah islamiyah, a regional terror group that really had its heyday early in the decade. recall the bali bomb, 200 people died then. j.i. were blamed for that. the indonesians have been successful in tracking them down, arresting and killing a lot of the leadership but noordin top has e

let's go to ian williams in bangkok, thailand who has the latest for us. >> good morning, chris.gators are sifting through the debris of the marriott and the ritz carlton hotels in jakarta looking for clues who might have been responsible for yesterday's deadly bombings, bombings that appear to have been incredibly well planned. little bits of information emerging that possibly the bomb was smuggled in in a laptop computer, there be evading the very elaborate metal detecting security. there was a story today in the indonesian press of a suspect collecting in with a thousand dollar deposit. no credit card. the security at those hotels was incredibly tight. this was well planned. they went in as guests, appear to have prepared the bomb in a room on the 18th floor. now, suspicion is falling on a faction, a breakaway group that used to be part of the jemaah islamiyah. this group had its most deadly hay day if you like earlier this decade when it bombed the marriott and australian embassy, the bali bomb. suspicion falling on a terrorist mastermind by the name of noordin top, an accomp

ian williams has the latest. >> reporter: picture emerging from the investigation is a chillingly well-planned attack. bombers checked into the hotel perhaps as early as wednesday. they took a room onhe 18th floor of the marriott and it was there they assembled the bomb before taking it down to the breakfast room for the coffee shop this morning. where it caused such devastating damage. >> it had -- marriott. a lot of people praying. ten minutes after -- building moved a lot. >> there was a very, very loud noise. i looked up and there was white smoke and i left. >> reporter: as important who is responsible, suspicion is falling on a terror group associated with al qaeda that was responsible for the bali bombing in 2002. the marriott bombing in 2003. it has appred to have been dormant. the indonesians have been very successful in arresting and killing its leaders. and they have been very pleased with themselves they have appeared to put this terror behind them. the security of the hotels now have been very, very tight. the president of indonesia today was visibly shaken by what happened. he rea

nbc's ian williams is live in bangkok, thailand, with the very latest this morning. ian, what can you tell us? >> reporter: good morning, mika. we well, that death toll still stands at nine and we're told there were dozens injured. among the injured are 18 foreigners, several of them americans though we have no more details at the moment. now these hotels were under intense security. security has been very tight for some years in jakarta. and police are speculating that the bombers may, in fact, have been guests and smuggled the devices in through that tight security. the president in indonesia gave an address this morning in which he said this was terrorism but he was reluctant to point the finger of blame. he was clearly very upset because indonesia has done well to keep this at bay for these years. now suspicion will fall on the region of al qaeda. they were very, very powerful in the early years of this decade. several major bombings at the marriott, bali, be you'll recall, the australian embassy. but the authorities, the anti-terror police, have done a very good

we begin with a report from ian williams of independent television news in beijing. >> reporter: armedpolice flooded urumqi today but could do little to prevent the simmering ethnic tensions again bursting onto the streets. this time, angry mobs of han chinese wielding sticks, pipes and shovels. they headed towards muslim uighur neighborhoods, chanting "defend the country." the riot police eventually blocked their way, later firing tear gas to disperse the crowd. earlier, scores of uighur women confronted another group of police, protesting against mass arrests of men from their muslim community. it began as chinese officials bussed journalists and photographers to the city to see the aftermath of the weekend rioting the authorities say more than 1,400 alleged rioters have been rounded up, the women claimed men had been strip- search and taken away if they had cuts, bruises, or other signs of fighting. "our situation is too tragic," said this woman. "it will be better to shoot us and kill us than live like this." another woman made her own, lonely, gesture of defiance. these are the la

. >> ian williams, be safe as we head out, i want to read this note from the president of indonesia.down on poisonous clerics that are still active in indonesia. strong words from the president in indonesia, where eight people dead and 50 injured in a bomb blast at a marriott and ritz-carlton hotel. >>> for more on the topics we're discussing check out carloswas the. >>> the most advanced fighter jets in the world. how the white house is using the words of defense secretary robert gates to make their case against the world's most advanced fighter. >>> plus will rewriting the health care system break the bank? more on that straight ahead. you're watching msnbc live. i'm carlos watson. if you're taking 8 extra-strength tylenol... a day on the days that you have arthritis pain, you could end up taking 4 times the number... of pills compared to aleve. choose aleve and you could start taking fewer pills. just 2 aleve have the strength... to relieve arthris pain all day. 's progressive. call or click today. has the fastest serve in the history of professional tennis. so i've come to this c

. >> nbc's ian williams.i is recovering this morning one day after having surgery for a broken wrist. the pope fractured his wrist friday after falling while vacationing in northern italy. the 82-year-d will wear a cast for about a month. >>> and talks resume tomorrow in california hoping to solve the state's $26 billion budget gap. lawmakers wet behind closed doors with governor schwarzenegger. huge progress made during hours of negotiations. this as most state agencies including the dmv were closed because of furloughs. >>> and five space walks planned after safely docking with the international space station. 13 crew members from five countries are living onboard the space station. the shuttle will spend the next 11 days making repairs on the shuttle and loading supplies. >>> finally, upset at british open. tiger woods fell one stroke short of making the cut and it is only the second time in his career that has happened. meanwhile, tied for the lead at the open is 59-year-old tom watson. watson, by the way

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