will be back next sunday before the first debate. because if it is sunday, it is "meet the press." hey, there, everyone, i'm al alex witt from msnbc's new york world headquarters where we are continuing to fol llow the breaking news out of manhattan. a massive manhunt is under way for those responsible for a downtown explosion last night. it injured 29 people, and no suspects this afternoon and no one has claimed responsibility and the motive remains unclear. authorities say that the blast that came from the garbage can in the chelsea neighborhood was an intentional act. bill de blasio is asking for help. >> a central message today is to

be vigilant at this point in time, and not just because of this incident, but because we are going into the united general assembles week, and vigilant, because the police need your help. if you see anything that might be pertinent to this case, we need you to call it in. >> the bomb was one of two devices found just four blocks north, and a wired pressure cooker left on the street was safely removed without incident. an eyewitness described the frantic scene. >> we could. see anything. and like, it was, it sound like a million pianos just dropped and like a big thunderstorm. >> and you felt it in your heart, you nknow. like when you are hearing the fireworks. it felt like fireworks. >> it was like, wait a minute, what is that explosion? and then everything got crazy. >> there is some good news, all 29 victims have been treated at the local hospitals, and all have been released. we go to tammy lightner who is going to join us live from chelsea and you were there

shortly after the explosion, and what is the latest in the inv investigation? >> alex, we have learned through the sources that the investigators are looking into the possible man fifesto, and somebody who has said that i am the new york bomber and put it out there on the social media and tumblr and we know it is out there, and we are not sure if it is legitimate, but investigators are out there looking at it. and we see them combing the streets up and down the streets looking for the surveillance video that they might have missed yesterday, because businesses were closed. some of the evidence will be sent to quantico and some of it on the way, and a short while ago governor cuomo talked about the situation. let's listen to what he had to say. >> whoever placed these bombs, we will find and they will be brought to justice, period. you the finest police agencies in the world when you come to

new york, and we will find who planted these explosives and they will be punished. >> if you are anywhere in new york city over the next week, you will be seeing the increased police presence about 1,000 additional state police officers and national guard stationed at the subways, bus stops, airports and this is for the protection and so that they can keep an extra eye out so that there is nothing funny going on. alex. >> thank you, live for us there in chelsea on the scene. this explosion in new york came hours after a pipe bomb exploded after thousands were set forth to take place in a race. all of this is at the seaside park as the fbi looks to find out who precisely left that device in a trash can near the race. and we are hearing audio immediately after the blast. >> all right. some type of explosion that occurred on ocean avenue at d street inside of a garbage can.

>> okay. we need to shutdown this run. shutdown this run. speak to somebody up there. >> taking care of it now, sir. >> do you want everybody off of the boardwalk? >> aftfirmative. shutdown the run, and get them out of the boardwalk. >> well, msnbc's morgan ratford is join g ing us from seaside p, and morgan listening to that exchange between the officers and somebody clearly in command, that is chilling to see that they knew immediately they had a potentially very serious thing on their hands. can you tell me what the investiga investigators have learned from the undetonated explosives? >> alex, i want to show you real quickly exactly writ happened. this is where it is. you can see the rim of the trash can where the pipe bomb explode and it is here, and somebody has placed american flags to mark the moment and the time and the place where this happened. it happened about 9:30 a.m. yesterday, and this is 30 minutes before a charity race

was beginning to honor the marine corps, and today, the fbi and homeland security are going door-to-door and i have been here since 7:00 a.m. this morning and they have been coming through to canvas the neighborhood to the talk to the neighbors to see if they saw anything. we spoke to some of the neighbors who were not only inv investigated by the fbi, excue me, questioned by the fbi, but they were there when they heard the explosion. take a listen. >> reporter: david, did you hear or see anything yesterday? >> yesterday morning a couple of minutes after 9:30 i was ready for the run and i was in the bedroom where i heard what turned out to be the explosion. i ran outside and notice ad few of people walking up here to the beach area, and that is where i saw a plume of smoke from what was left of the device that was just laying in front of the garbage can. and you know, the most incredible part is that within seconds there were local police on the scene, and three or four cars already surveying the area, and keeping everyone away, and securing, you know, just the perimeter around this block in

case there was anything further. >> alex, every single person i spoke to today said that they were quite frankly surprised that it happened in a neighborhood, in the area that is pretty sleeppy, but to show you that it is not just here in seaside park, i want to tell you that they had to cancel the festival even though the explosion happened yesterday, because he needed to be more safe and he wanted to eron the side of caution, and because it was so highly publicized he had to make a decisioner erring on the side of public safety, so a lot of people surprised here and still looking to to find out exactly who was responsible for this and why they did what they did. alex. >> yeah, you have heard it and it is trite sometimes better safe than stoorry, and in this case, it is true. we go to justice correspondent pete williams, and what are the

federal investigators telling you about the bombing in chelsea? >> well, the question is of course, are all of these related? you have to think of the individual scenes and talk about 23rd street and chelsea and look at the picture in tammy's piece. each of the orange markers on the street, that is a potential piece of oevidence. so that is tough that was spread out all over the street after the bomb went off, and you will see the numbers there, and you can see the orange flags, and this is how a post bombing investigation is put together. they look for the pieces of the device. each piece has a number and cataloged to show where they were found, a and all of those pieces from however, there, whatever numbers there in foreground that are showing 40 or 50 or so, and each of the numbers, each of the pieces will be separately cataloged and

separately bundled up and sent to the fbi crime lab here in quantico. they will compare it gaiagainste device found in new jersey. it was a fizzle. it was three devices taped together, and two did not go off and one did not go off entirely. so all of that has been sent to the crime lab just outside of washington, d.c. now, to the third scene which is 27th street in new york, the pressure cooker that you have been seeing the pictures of, and that has not been sent to quantico yet, because they have to make shure that it is safe ad it is not any kind of the hazard and they will be taking it apart very carefully before they send it down here. once sit down here, and the bomb techs will be looking at the broad how they were made and then the minute thing, and what kind of wire was used, and what gauge? the same color or the same kind

and are the tool marks that were used to snip the wire the same, and the same kind of tape, and that is all of the things they will be looking at, and they have a lot to go on. and now, you are looking at the surveillance video from new york, and you are seeing some of that now, and the investigators say they have video of when the bomb went off, and not this video from something nearby bucks of the actual bomb itself, and so they can look to see whether somebody walked up to drop it into the dumpster in chelsea, and then they will just build concentric circles from the surveillance video. okay. can you see whatever that person is who dropped the bomb, and can you see them going in and out of the frame from another one to another one, and try to trace that person's movements, and that is a very productive line of inquiry that they are undergoing in new york. >> pete, given the wealth of experience in these kinds of situation, and looking at the

puck chur that you point -- picture, that is 40, 50 or so marcations of the evidence and the video and all of that, and does it seem to you have to be a ongoing investigation for quite some time or something that they can wrap up? >> well, they will get the pieces picked up, and they are very good at this, and this is something that they train to do and they do it all of the time. this is routine for the bomb techs and bomb investigators, and so they will have it, and they were saying earlier today, they would have the street open in a couple of hours. this is an earlier picture, tan the bomb debris also goes up, so they will be looking at the overhanging features of buildings that might pick up pieces that are falling back down again, and that is part of the investigation, but they will get it a all of the stuff and send it down here. in terms of how fast it is before they know the answer, that is going to be depending on a number of factor, witnesses, how good the surveillance video is and whether the phren sucks

off a good stuff. for example, it appears that the timers in both in tact pressure cooker bomb in new york on 27th street, and the timer on the pipe bombs in new jersey was a cell phone. so that is in itself evidence. you can see that the device is sort of taped there on the pressure cooker bomb. so the cell phone, itself, it could give them some information, but every single thing that you are looking at in the picture is a potential forensic evidence. where did the pressure cooker come from? what kind of tape? what is the explosive material inside and all of those are going to be good avenues of inquiry. in a bomb, when the bomb goes off, there is some bits of it left, but you have now from the two scenes, 27th and street in new jersey substantial parts of it left. so this is a real boost for the investiga investigators to put them way ahead of where they might normally be.

>> pete in washington. many thanks for that. a short time ago new york mayor bill de blasio said that there is no link of the bombing last night, and i asked governor cuomo if he saw it differently? >> the point is simple, you don't get to set off a bomb in new york city, period. yes, it was an intentional act and violent act and criminal act, and it was an act that frightened, hurt, squared many, many people. and generically you call it terrorism. >> for more on the ongoing investigation, we will bring in the retired atf special agent, and also manny rigario, and what can you tell us about what we have seen so far?

>> well, you can see that the obvious possibilities here that it is terrorism, and the attack on the marine 5k race with a bomb that is outlined in the inspire magazine on how to make it exactly, and of course, the pressure cookers. look, cell phone timers, sorry, the el cell phone detonators is the right term here, ap they are not common in the united states, but they are common in pakistan and iraq and in the theatre over there, and they have been for years. so what you want to know, alex, who is calling the cell phones. who is calling the cell phones? is it a drop phone? somebody calling it? because if that is the detonator in seaside park on the pressure cooker bomb that was detonated on the one in the trash bin, well, who is calling the phone? it is the bomber, and that is who is calling the phone. so you have the start there, and the targeting could be terrorism, and it is looking like it is coming out of the playbook. so, i would think that in short

order they will be moving on that determination a little faster. >> and manny, jim is talking about the cell phone, and that is what was attached to the wires and taped to the pressure cooker found four blocks north of the 23rd street explosion. and it happens to be the same kind of the device that was used in the boston marathon bombing. is there significance to that? is there a common thread there that could be proving fruitful to find out who is behind this? >> well, there is, because like you said, this is a similar device used in boston bombing, a and as we know, "inspire" magazine, you can go to website or different tools that al qaeda and specifically isis puts out on propaganda to easily put these improvised devices from things that you could buy at the home dee ppotdepot. so it is not surprising that they have been showing up in new

york city that they have been used in in boston and afghanistan and iraq and other places. >> jim, when you are thinking of the paris bombings that we were talking about coming up on a year ago now, and a bombing of a bu si neighborhood, but away from the landmarks, and look, new york city has tons and tons of landmarks there, and so does that suggest anything to you? >>le w it is not the obvious target. you know, there is a large gay population there, and people have thee rised that could be something -- >> in the chelsea area. >> yes. >> and it could be an area where they are comfortable, and possible more than one actor here, and they want to be away from the cameras. and again, this bomber could be one but more likely it is more than one. this is not a great bomber. and this is the beginning of the career. and the pipe bomb low watered and it did not complete de

detonate, and so the bomb on 27th street, if it turns out to be a live device, itle malfunctioned as well. it was not left there to be found by the state troopers, but put there to be detonated and likely they called it if there was a cell phone detonator and it did not detonate so two bomb s that fizzled. they are not great bombers and trying hard, but the danger is that they are still there. and there is a bomber who put a bomb in the e seaside park and another bomber who put one in chelsea, and so there is wone o more bombers loose in the metropolitan area, and the task is to find out what cell phone is calling them, and can check the videos and the sources of the explosive videos and the joint task force, and the nypd and the atf, they are pressing on thx and the loaders will be coming out with more information today as the day goes on and tomorrow, because they need to push then ve lope to get the public active on their side.

>> right. >> and really start pointing tout the public, look, is somebody cooking up something in your apartment next door, the smell, and anybody purchasing this item or that item and they have to ramp it up, because time is critical. >> yes, see something, say something for sure. and mentioning the leaders, manny, because this is when the leaders from all over the world are meeting for the general assembly, and how much is this going to be height ened? >> well, it is ramped up, and coming here to the studio this afternoon, i have been seeing the camouflaged secret service agents with dogs and national guard and state police, and homeland security. numerous, numerous nypd forces above and beyond what usually the u.n. general assembly calls for. the nypd and the secret service are exp perts in the generals a is sem bli year -- generals a year out, and on the heels of last night, they totally ramped it up, and governor quo omow has

promised for monday morning rush hour, we will be seeing the numerous national guard as well as incremented nypd personnel, and numerous blocks being closed totally to pedestrian and vehicular traffic and especially the blocks where you have heads of state staying is at several hotel hotels. so the city is going to be in the quasi gridlock until we figure this out. and succeed breeds success, and even though the bombs fizzled, they are going to be encouraged the produce other bombs if the they are not caught in due time. >> thank you, manny gomez and jim cavenaugh. presidential candidate donald trump and hillary clinton are weighing in. we will look at the difing reactions from both campaigns coming up.

take on any road with intuitive all-wheel drive. the nissan rogue, murano and pathfinder. now get 0% apr for 72 months, plus $500 bonus cash. (jessica) so the new recipe of beneful is really excellent. the first ingredient is chicken. (riley) man, this chicken is spectacular! (jessica) i had to start hiding the bag because he would try to put his face in it all day. yeah you love it, don't you? you love it so much! i feel like when he eats beneful, he kind turns into a puppy again. it's protein. it's vegetables. it's grains. i mean, like that sounds like a dinner i'd make for myself, right? (riley) hey it's a big bag. just have some of mine. (vo) try new beneful healthy weight with chicken. now with real chicken as the number one ingredient, healthful. flavorful. beneful. whmade plastics that tmake them lighter?rs the lubricants that improved fuel economy. even technology to make engines more efficient. what company does all this?

exxonmobil, that's who. we're working on all these things to make cars better and use less fuel. helping you save money and reduce emissions. and you thought we just made the gas. energy lives here. ♪ ♪ you live life your way. we can help you retire your way, too. financial guidance while you're mastering life. from chase. so you can.

donald trump and hillary clinton are aoff of the campaig trail today, but both candidates have weighed in on last night's explosion at new york city. donald trump taking to the microphone at an event in colorado springs minutes after hearing the news and before authorities had determined the nature of the explosion. >> just before i got off of the plane, a bomb went off in new york, and nobody knows exactly what is going on, but boy, we are living in a time that we better get very tough, folks. we better get very, very tough. >> and hillary clinton spoke to reporters advising everybody to wait for more information. >> secretary, any reaction to the fact that donald trump immediately called the incident in new york a bomb, and that is the term? >> well, it is important to know

the facts about incident like this, and this is why it is critical to support the first respo responders and the investigators who are looking into it to determine what did happen. >> and on "meet the press" today, vice presidential candidate tim keene on whether last night's incidents are the new normal. >> i don't accept that. i don't accept it is a new normal and we don't know the cause of the incident, but we are not allowing it to be a normal. military strength to shrink isis and beat them on the ground, but the intelligence sharing to stop attacks is what we have to do. >> a new national poll out shows that people slightly prefer clinton when best prepared to handle terrorism. we welcome in halle and kristen, and now, this morning, donald trump was striking a different tone when talking about the

explosion, and what are you seeing? >> yes, this is pulled up on screen, and on twit he said, i want to express my warmest regards and best wishes to all of the families and the victims of of the horrible bombing in nyc and that is trump are from today, and in the past, he has been criticized by some after gloating for moments of crises, and this is a different tone from trump today, and it is something that we will hear from him when he heads back on the trail tomorrow and in florida and north carolina and ohio. you talked about the polls, and who is best suited to handle terrorism in the eyes of voters and the fox poll shows a one-point edge for hillary clinton, and cnn from a week and a half ago shows that it is donald trump who has the lead who voters would trust when it comes to terrorism, and so it is conflict, and when you are

looking at the numbers on terrorism, and national security, and then who voters trust for commander in chief, and in the same cnn poll, it is hillary clinton who has the lead, so you ask if national security is going to be having an impact in the election, of course, it will, because it is one of the top concerns for voters burk i have be on the phone with political analysts and observers who say that at this point, 50-plus days in, and this event and the attacks over the weekend could fade, but the issue is if something happens in the two weeks prior to election day, and that could be a game-changer. >> and haley, do we know who briefed mr. are trump on the incident? >> not clear. we know that he was on the plane 13 minutes which is longer than usual from landing and holding the rally in colorado springs from that sound bite that you played. it is not clear how he learned of the incident and who talked to him about it. >> and thank you for that, hallie jackson. and kristen welker, we have not

heard from hillary clinton, but we have heard from her running mate tim kaine. >> yes, you have heard hallie talking about how close it is when it comes to this issue in the polls, and this is what he had to say. >> she has been through it, and it is a searing experience in her life, and she was part of the national security team that worked together to revive the hunt and wipe out bin laden and it is an important time to have experience. >> of course, secretary clinton has not commented today, and she did as you played at the top comment last night, and a very different response from the one we heard from donald trump. and secretary saying that it is important to weigh in on the facts and important to support the first responders and reached out to the mayor, and trying to make the argument that she has experience in the situations not only the respond and react from

a place of having dealt with these types of issues before. and now, looking ahead to this week, she is going to be in philadelphia tomorrow, alex, and she is going to be hoarding the obama coalition, the millennials and trying to address them talking about college affordabili affordability, and making it easier to access, but no doubt that this issue is going to be coming into play tomorrow, and are especially if reporters can can ask questions and especially ahead of the all important debate which is a week away. >> yes, you are right, kristen welker. thank you very much. the police are saying that they are working the leads right now. the doctor said, "pam! if you'd waited two more days, you would've died." pneumococcal pneumonia almost took me from them. if i had known that a vaccine could have helped prevent this, i would have asked my doctor about it.

when this busy family... ...got a cracked windshield... ...their dad went to the new safelite-dot-com... ...and scheduled a replacement... ...in just a few clicks. with safelite you don't have to miss a thing. y'all did wonderful! thank you. (girls sing) safelite repair, safelite replace. marcopolo! marco...! polo! marco...! polo! marco...! polo! marco...! sì? polo! marco...! polo! scusa? ma io sono marco polo, ma... marco...! playing "marco polo" with marco polo?

surprising. ragazzini, io sono marco polo. sì, sono qui... what's not surprising? how much money amanda and keith saved by switching to geico. ahhh... polo. marco...! polo! fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. polo! customer service!d. ma'am. this isn't a computer... wait. you're real? with discover card, you can talk to a real person in the u.s., like me, anytime. wow. this is a recording. really? no, i'm kidding. 100% u.s.-based customer service. here to help, not to sell.

>> i heard a massive explosion and i didn't know what it was. it sounded like a thunder clap and then i started to hear the police cars and sirens and i came down 20 minutes later, and it was a massive response.

>> i'm alex witt at the new york headquarters and this is what we know in the manhattan bombing investigation. a author is the don't know who made that bomb in the chelsea neighborhood injuring 29 people. the good news is that all of them have been released from the hospital, and the motive is unclear, and joining me now is jonathan dienst who has been literally following everything. and we saw the witnesses talking, and jonathan was on the telephone getting into the seat to tell us what he found out. what are you hearing and what is the latest and the sources are telling you? >> well, we have new information this is interesting. the 27th street location first. start with that. there is a tape that has been found, and law enforcement officials telling us that it is showing a man wheeling a suitcase up the sidewalk and leaving the suitcase at that scene. >> what kind of tape? >> surveillance videotape. obtained from the store nearby, and presumably surveillance tape

showing the suspect, and a possible suspect walking up to leave the suitcase in that location. >> 23rd or 27th? >> 27th. >> and that is mostly residential area, and there is like a bodega at the end of the block? >> yes. and so they wheel up the suitcase and this person leaves it in that location. as you know, what the police found was a pressure cooker in a garbage bag, and the leading theory is that now two others came, took the suitcase leaving the garbage bag with the pressure cooker bomb on the sidewalk and there is some belief thatp perhaps there were two people out who took a suitcase, because it was lying on the street and they may now have evidence that, you know, belonged to the bomber, and that they could help us find. >> you think it is unintentional? >> yes, 30 or 40 minutes later and it is more than the working theory and nobody has explained to me how they know it or what

they believe, but maybe two people who walked off with the means, the suitcase to get that pressure cooker to the scene. and they are now looking for two people who may have walked off with the suitcase, because again, the pressure cooker was found in a garbage bag on the sidewalk. that is one. two, why new york and new jersey may be similar, and may be conne connected? because their old file flip -- old style flip phones used in the three device, and the old style flip phones are not as common nowadays as they used to be, and so that is what is causing the concern or some concern that what happened in new jersey with the explosion in that bar badge can before the race there at 9:00 a.m. is similar or is connect ed to wha happened on 23rd street, and there is a flip phone there, and one in on 27th street. >> and so a flip phone and we did see that and the picture

with the pressure cooker was found on 27th street, and the pressure cooker and the wires and the tape, and the cell phone. you telling me now that what happened in seaside park, and the investigators have been able to put together the remnants off a cell phone from that explosion. >> and they may have it, because the explosion was very minor and there were three pipe bombs because one went off partially, and so that is two and now they have the remnants of the apparently from the 23rdt street where they know that it was a flip cell phone that was used. i don't know how they know it, but that is what has been described to me from the resources familiar with the investigation. >> do you have any knowledge about surveillance video, and we have been seeing the limited surveillance video that which has been given to us here at wnbc or the msnbc news, and those are certainly not the only videos in the area. >> right. there are a lot more video

pouring through, and also more based on the stores that were closed. on the location of the 23rd street, numerous sources saying a grainy tape showing someone walking up to throw something or putting it into the dumpster, and unclear, because maybe they were throwing something away or somebody linked to the incident, and it is grainy and they are trying to enhance it, and obviously, compare it to see if it matches the video of the person wheeling the suitcase up to 27th street, and one in the same person or different people, and that is part of the investigation. one more thing, why is it taking so long in the bronx to get at that device, right? they have been working it now since overnight to get into the pressure cooker? >> yes, since 2:30 in the morning. >> and it is now 3:35 in the afternoon, because they are trying to use a robot the disarm it to preserve all of the evidence. they could do a controlled explosion, but if they do that,

they will lose some of the evidence. they want to try to save it. so they are using the mechanics robots, and keeping it safe, and it is not going anywhere, and they will take their time and be methodical to use the robot to disa arm it, and render it safe and go to quantico to have a all of the comparisons of the 23rd street in new york, and the new jersey explosion site. one last point. >> wow. >> at least one 911 call claiming responsibility. they do not know if this is some hoax. they don't know if it is a cr k crackpot or legit, and investigating to look into it. and also a tumblr post that has been washed out. they have found the person in the carolinas and they don't believe it has any connection to this, but this is the kind of leads or the work done as huge amount of resources are being pour

poured into solving the case to find whoever it is or the group that planted these devices in new jersey and perhaps new york if in fact a connection is establish established. >> i will tell you, jonathan dienst, you are worth waiting for. and now, coming up, we will talk to a witness who watched the chaotic scene from her chelsea apartment. only control 1. flonase controls 6. and six is greater than one. with flonase, more complete relief means enjoyment of every beautiful moment. flonase, six is greater than one, changes everything. ♪ let's just get a sandwich or something. "or something"? you don't just graduate from medical school, "or something." and we don't just pull smoked chicken, bake fresh foccacia and hand-slice avocado. there's nothing "or something" about it. i'm raph. my name is anne. i'm one of the real live attorneys you can talk to through legalzoom.

don't let unanswered legal questions hold you up, because we're here, we're here, and we've got your back. legalzoom. legal help is here. legal help is here. [ clock titime. ] you only have so much. that's why we wanna make sure you won't have to wait on hold. and you won't have to guess when we'll turn up. because after all...

we should fit into your life. [ laughing ] not the other way around. [ clock ticking ]

continuing to follow the breaking news out of new york city where the officials are trying to track who plant ad bomb in the chelsea neighborhood. it kept many hold up inside of their apartments while police secured the scene. joining me on phone is elisabeth, and tell us what you observed? >> i was in a large ap a pa partment building on the corner and i was on the sixth floor in my apartment watching tv and it

was what everybody was saying, thunder, and the sky was breaking open, and much louder than the thunder. it definitely sounded like an explosion. and so i ran to the window, and all of the sudden, i saw people running up s6th avenue, east on 23rd street as fast as they could, and it was absolutely terrifying. i had no idea what was going on. within seconds there were police, fire trucks, everyone just came right to the scene. people came out of the subway station stations, and there were crowds of people and then the police officers shoeing even away to clear the area. nobody knew what was going on. i am watching the news and looking out the win doex and tweeting pictures of what i see. and all of the sudden, i get an alarm on my phone that says don't go to the window, because there is a suspicious package

found on 27th street which is just four blocks away. >> it must have struck sheer terror into your heart thinking, what is happening in my neighborhood, but i am curious about that neighborhood and the restrictions of the movement today. what is it like there? >> in the morning when i went out to take the dogs out, there was no movement on 22nd street, and now they are letting the cars cross 6th avenue on 22nd street. the intersection of 6th and 23rd is completely blocked. the area on 23rd street between 5th and 6th and i believe to 66th and 7th is completely shutdown. men in suits walking around, and fbi people, and it is just looking like a crime scene. there is a tent in the middle of the intersection that, you know, i looked in as best as i could, because i am curious, and i saw like a desk and people sitting there and probably, making

strategic plans, and so the city reponded so fast and i was very relieved to know that, but it was definitely scary. you don't know if something else is going to be happening, and it is a total shock. >> well, we are so glad that you are safe and able to talk to us to today and we know it is a frightening experience and thank you for sharing your experience with us. joining us now is zachary williams who is a reporter for chelsea now. you were on the scene quick ly after the explosion and can you describe what you saw? >> well, as soon as i got the 23rd and 7th avenue, you will see an enormous amount of law enforcement and fire department personnel and tape up and people standing on the corner really wondering what is going on. all they know is that there is an explosion and not really a lot of information gone out there yet. >> and what about eyewitnesses with whom you spoke after that explosion? what were they the telling you? >> well, a lot of them really didn't know at first what it was.

one witness d scribed it to me as a possible construction accident which is known to happen in the neighborhood, and another lady was just hanging out with her granddaughter and just felt her chair rock really hard, and i think that as soon as both of them got down to the street, and saw all of the people running around and wondering what is going on, it was only then that they considered that this might have been something more than an accident. >> and yeah, you heart elisabeth say it is what seemed seconds until the emergency personnel were on the street. is that your experience as well? >> yes. and the local councilmember told me he was two blocks from the site, and by the time he got there it was swarming with the nypd personnel and on scene, you will see a lot of vehicles en the tering the perimeter around the site. i would say that the city responded very quickly to this

incide incident. >> all right. zachary williams with chelsea now. thank you for weighing in. for all of you, we are following the new developments out of minnesota where nine people were injured in a knife attack at shopping mall. what the police are saying about the attacker, and a possible motive. stay with msnbc with the continuing coverage of the chelsea neighborhood explosion. my colleague richard lui is going to be here at the top of the hour with more on the investigation. is control. this is the pursuit of perfection. you only earn double miles when you buy stuff from that airline. wait...is this where you typically shop? you should be getting double miles on every purchase! switch...to the capital one venture card. with venture, you earn unlimited double miles on every purchase, everywhere, every day. not just ...(dismissively) airline purchases. seriously... double miles... everywhere.

what's in your wallet? before it became a medicine, it was an idea. an inspiration. a wild "what-if." so scientists went to work. they examined 87 different protein structures. had 12 years of setbacks and breakthroughs, 4,423 sleepless nights, and countless trips back to the drawing board. at first they were told no, well... maybe, and finally: yes. then it was 36 clinical trials, 8,500 patient volunteers, and the hope of millions. and so after it became a medicine, someone who couldn't be cured, could be. me.

♪ don't bring that mess around here, evan! whoo! don't do it. don't you dare. i don't think so! [ sighs ] it's okay, big fella. we're gonna get through this together. [ baseball bat cracks ] nice rip, robbie. ♪ raaah! when you bundle home and auto insurance through progressive, you get more than just a big discount. i'm gonna need you to leave. you get relentless protection. [ baseball bat cracks ] you get relentless protection. first tblades.shaving. sharp and precise. then gillette shielding. comfy lubrication before and after. and also cooling. oooh... got goosebumps. gillette proshield chill. with lubrication before and after the blades. shields and cools while you shave. proshield chill from gillette. the best a man can get. proshield. available with or without chill.

with dand bold styling to to stay ahead of the curve... the lexus rx, rx hybrid and rx f sport. this is the rx, elevated. this is the pursuit of perfection. at 48 past the hour, we are following breaking news out of st. cloud, minnesota, to find out what led a man to attack people in a shopping mall with a knife. he was wearing a private security uniform and witnesses said that he made references to allah. >> we are currently investigating this as a potential act of terrorism. we do not at this point in time know whether the subject was, it was in contact with, had connections with, inspired by a

foreign terrorist organization. >> msnbc's gadi schwartz is on the phone with us, and have police identified any motive for this attack? >> so far, no motive on the attack, but we are hearing the details about what went on inside of the mall during the attack, and then what ended the attack. we are hearing for the first time about this cop that is being labeled a hero. a lot of people hail iing this off-duty police officer jason faulkner who is inside of the mall when it all happened. they say that he was a able to stop this attack, and he was able to save lives and they say that when he was in macy's, that the mayor was just describing seeing the surveillance video of how the attack was stopped and he said that jason faulkner approached the suspect with the knife. jason drew a gun and ordered the suspect on the ground, and the suspect got on the ground, and then immediately jumped up,

lunged at the officer and able to close a gap of about 20 feet very quickly, and the officer opened fire, and the suspect went down and got back up, and he opened fire suspect got up f time trying to get at officer falconer, but he was put down by officer falconer and then he was basically shot and killed inside at the mall. that's what put an end to this rampage that had nine people in the hospital. so far, only three people are still in the hospital. the others have been released with nonlife-threatening injuries. so that's the good news that we're hearing. right now the shift has -- the focus has shifted over to trying to find out those motives as you were speaking about. a little bit ago we hear from both the fbi and the police chief here saying still very early in this investigation. take a listen. >> we've executed at least two search warrants at ayn dress in st. cloud. we did discover the suspect's

vehicle in the mall parking lot. that vehicle was cleared and impounded. >> we eke loot at his social media, his electronic devices, talk to associates, peel back the onion and figured out what motivated this individual to commit the horrific act. >> the big question here, was this a terrorist attack? there is a media site that's been linked to the islamic state that is claiming responsibility saying this was one of their soldiers. but, again, the fbi and the police here cautioning people to -- not to rush to judgment. they are saying that this is very early on in the investigation and they are going to continue from there. alex? >> all right. thank you. president obama will be heading to new york city within the hour for the start of the-up general assembly tomorrow. we'll gate look at the security preparations now under way as dignitaries from all over the world alive in manhattan amid this heightened alert.

isaac hou has mastered gravity defying moves to amaze his audience. great show. here you go. now he's added a new routine. making depositing a check seem so effortless. easy to use chase technology, for whatever you're trying to master. isaac, are you ready? yeah. chase. so you can. when this busy family... ...got a cracked windshield... ...their dad went to the new safelite-dot-com... ...and scheduled a replacement... ...in just a few clicks. with safelite you don't have to miss a thing. y'all did wonderful! thank you. (girls sing) safelite repair, safelite replace.

americans are buying more and more of everything online. and so many businesses rely on the united states postal service to get it there. that's why we make more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country. the united states postal service. priority: you

54 past. the president heads to new york this afternoon ahead of this week's united nations general assembly and amid a heightened security presence and response to last nigh's explosion. a white house official telling nbc news that the president is being briefed and updated regularly on the investigation. nbc's ron allen is outside of the united nations here in new york city. ron, we know there will be a considerably heavier presence throughout the city, but what about specific security plan for all of these world leaders? >> well, alex, they've done this many times before and i think it's safe to say this is probably going to be one of the largest police operations ever in the city. the mayor, the police commissioner, emphasizing that this city has the best anti-terrorism police force anywhere in the country. th there are going to be heavy weapons teams out, dogs, checks at subways, transit points, the tunnels and bridges coming here, all of that to protect the entire city and of course this

area where the unga will be happening. this entire area will be a no-go zone starting probably sometime very early tomorrow morning or late tonight. here's what the police commissioner had to say when he was asked to assess preparation. >> we've been as an agency -- this is what we do and we do it very well. we've been doing this for years. we took a look at our coverage, our detail for the week, for the weeks, and we're satisfied we're -- we are where we need to be. >> reporter: already the police presence here is somewhat heavy. you can see behind me that some of these roads, there are barriers along the edges of the roadways to keep you from crossing. there will be more and more of that as the days go by. the unga most of the week. there are also events in other boroughs around town, the police xhilgs e excision commissioner pointing out at the press conference. this will probably be the

largest presence of police ever in new york city given what's happened a few blocks away and what's happening next week. >> ron allen just outside the united nations. that does it for me this hour. richard lui will pick up our continuing coverage next with the latest on new york city officials are saying about last night's blast in lower manhattan. thanks for watching. have a great sunday. everyone said it's so hard to be a musician, but i can't imagine doing anything else. now that the train makes it easier to get here, the neighborhood is really changing. i'm always hopping on the train, running all over portland. i have to go wherever the work is. trains with innovative siemens technology help keep cities moving, so neighborhoods and businesses can prosper. i can book 3 or 4 gigs on a good weekend. i'm booked solid for weeks. it takes ingenuity to make it in the big city. i'm booked solid for weeks. get between you and life's dobeautiful moments.llergens by choosing flonase, you're choosing more complete allergy relief and all the enjoyment that comes along with it. when we breathe in allergens,

our bodies react by overproducing 6 key inflammatory substances. most allergy pills only control 1. flonase controls 6. and six is greater than one. with flonase, more complete relief means enjoyment of every beautiful moment. flonase, six is greater than one, changes everything. ♪ ♪ ♪ take on any road with intuitive all-wheel drive. the nissan rogue, murano and pathfinder. now get 0% apr for 72 months, plus $500 bonus cash. ♪"my friends know me so well. they can tell what i'm thinking, just by looking in my eyes. but what they didn't know was that i had dry, itchy eyes. i used artificial tears from the moment i woke up...

...to the moment i went to bed. so i finally decided to show my eyes some love,... ...some eyelove. eyelove means having a chat with your eye doctor about your dry eyes because if you're using artificial tears often and still have symptoms, it could be chronic dry eye. it's all about eyelove, my friends. will your business be ready when growth presents itself? our new cocktail bitters were doing well, but after one tradeshow, we took off. all i could think about was our deadlines racing towards us. a loan would take too long. we needed money, now. my amex card helped me buy the ingredients to fill the orders. opportunities don't wait around, so you have to be ready for them. find out how american express cards and services can help prepare you for growth at open.com. find out how american express cards and services hey, searching for a great used yeah! you got it. just say show me millions of used cars for sale at the all new carfax.com.

i don't want one that's had a big wreck just say, show me cars with no accidents reported pretty cool i like it that's the power of carfax® find the cars you want, avoid the ones you don't plus you get a free carfax® report with every listing start your used car search at carfax.com explosions in three states -- new york, new jersey, and minnesota. first new york city where we're learning new information about the blast that rocked the chelsea neighborhood last night. manny gomez and jim kavanagh have been following the story with us. jim, the latest pieces of information coming in from wnbc's jonathan dietz.