. live from studio 46. this is cbs 2 news this morning. it is 4:30. 36 degrees on this tuesday, march second. warmer today, warmer tomorrow there could be rain by the end of the week, good morning i'm chris wragge. i'm mary calvi. we begin with breaking news, at least twoexplosions rock brussels airport about an hour ago. janelle burrell is following all of the developments from the newsroom for us, janelle. >> reporter: we are just getting word there may have been a third explosion in a

said two loud blasts were heard during the departure terminal we are hearing from brussels police one person is dead and there are several injuries. smoke billowing from the airport, the airport under lock down. people were immediately evacuated, seen standing on the tarmac and ordered to get out. the international news organization, sky news, was inside the airport during the time of the blast. >> checking in from flights back home, very, very loud explosions the building around was rocked, dust coming from the ceiling, people wanting shelter where they were. >> this point there is no

terror related, they have been under high alert. last week salah abdeslam was under attack, it is unclear if any of this is all related. janelle burrell, cbs 2 news. we'll get back to you shortly. let's get to traffic and weather on the 2's. good morning chris and mary, good morning everybody, look at that beautiful moonlit sky, full moon tomorrow. we'll see nice conditions today, mostly sunny just a few clouds creeping in late today into your tuesday night. 36 in the city right now northwest wind not as strong today 9 to 17 a few flurries well to the north, but we'll see slightly warmer air in place today, that's definitely the case tomorrow with the southwest wind taking over your day hour by hour, it is chilly to start, still in the 30s out the door for many, by lunchtime still brisk in the mid-40s. we're going to shoot for 54 for your high today. mostly sunny skies clouds

afternoon and into the evening. it is early in the morning right now, let's look at that moon, let's get you on your way. skies are clear not too bad on the roads yet we have a little bit of construction to tell you about. jersey city pacific avenue closed in both directions due to fire department activity. you want to stick with garfield avenue that will be your best bet. the goethals bridge is closed until 5 a.m. that is for construction so you want to use the bayon bridge as your alternate. taking a look outside, no delays at the george washington bridge, nice and clear at all three hudson river crossings just a reminder the inbound lower level is easy pass only until 6 a.m., alternate side wide. thank you. new developments in apple's legal battle with the fbi a court hearing set for today has been delayed because they may

phone without apple's helm. the couple was inspired by isis. and farook's iphone may have possible information about collaborators. apple has been fighting a court order to unlock the iphone. a director of a tennis tournament that women ride on the coattails of men. the same day defeating williams, both slammed the comments. and police commissioner bratton will discuss the plan of the knife attacks. we'll have much more on this story in our next half hour. a costumed easter bunny character and parent face charges after getting in a brawl in a mall. cell phone video captured the video after a 1-year-old daughter apparently fell off

the dad got angry with the man in the bunny suit some how they ended up wrestling on the floor in front of other kids and shoppers. >> you could see it throughout the entire mall the crowd was just crazy, he was just wacking at the guy. happening today the man accused of killing a homeless shelter director in the bronx will face a judge. wess will appear in court for a control hearing prosecutors say last april he tried to sexually assault anna charl and then shot her three times, moved out of the shelter in january of 2015. the next round of water testing begins this morning in newark schools high levels of led were detected at 30 schools, today they'll begin testing students for led poisening at 17,000 students in the district are eligible for testing. the mta is investigating a

people hurt. the qm11 bus jumped a barrier and slammed into a pillar it jammed the bus door. >> everything went flying. i was in the handicap seat, there was nothing that stopped me. >> the passenger complaining of chest pains was removed on a stretcher, no injuries were considered life threatening. new york city council is one step closer to knocking chewing tobacco out of ballparks, yesterday the health committee voted in favor of a smokeless tobacco ban, if approved the city hopes to have a ban in place by opening day at yankee stadium and citi field. before president obama wraps up his historic visit to cuba he'll catch a baseball game between the cuban national team and tampa bay rays. yesterday mr. obama and cuban

havana. castro says they place emphasis on other human rights. >> i discussed that we are ready to show to do more business. >> it stands as the most important obstacle for the economic development and well being of all people. to campaign 2016, voters head to the polls, yesterday donald trump raised eyebrows on the future of nato. don champion reports. >> reporter: voting in the west could further lay the landscape for the republican presidential race. the big prize is the winner

focused on foreign policy in washington, an idea he repeated on cnn last night. >> paying disproportionately. it is too much, frankly, it is the a different world than when he originally conceived the idea and everybody got together. the rivals quickly responding. >> this is a dangerous world if america withdraws we get what it produced. trump tried rallying support, also spoke before apac. >> when i become president, the days of treating israel like a second class citizen will end. >> hillary clinton targeting trump. we need steady hands, not a president who says he is neutral on monday, proisrael on tuesday, and who knows what on wednesday. >> bernie sanders skipped the

utah where he needs to pull off a win. >> israel must continue to exist as an independent free state. if we are going to have lasting peace, we have to work with the palestinians. >> more than 200 delegates are up for grabs today. don champion, cbs news. updated on our breaking news this morning. let's go to a special report from cbs news. >> haven't been able to find this guy, they are asking for the public's help, have you seen him? there are pictures distributed in media and other places looking for this man, that's how immediate a threat it is, and you find out there are three explosions at the airport, possibly one at a subway station, you can imagine that the belgium authorities are reeling with this problem. we are showing video of people running just running from the airport just to bring everyone up to speed like charlie said, we are looking at two explosions at the airport

completely shut down all flights to belgium have been diverted elsewhere, the subway system, the metro system has been shut down completely as well here another report of an explosion at the metro station very close to e-u buildings. that. essentially the country has been shut down, a high state of alert and authorities are trying to sort of get a handle on what has been unfolding all morning long. charlie, you are on your way to brussels. i'm wondering what it is like on the roads? can you tell something is occurring here in the country? >> well we are racing here on a highway, we are between bruge and brussels itself, i haven't got into the city center to get

the reason we were here, this paris attacker arrested on friday, transferred to a high security prison, they don't have one of that nature in brussels, so they transferred to a high security prison to place high profile prisoners, furniture,equipment has been bolted to the floor, that's where he has been kept. it was after the arrest, if the place wasn't already on alert, they cranked it up even higher. now it is at the highest threat level, that will means things like closing down the airport, closing down the public transport, mean obviously a huge increase presence of police in public areas. as you said, anne marie. the place after the arrest and public warnings, after asking the public's help in the search for at least two high profile

essential. when we left brussels yesterday when we were traveling there, you see police everywhere. certainly around the train stations. i imagine they were at the airport as well. including a huge presence around that specific area. a bit rundown in places, a hot bed of islamic extremism. international terror attacks have been launched from brussels so we're not just talking about belgium itself that has been attackedded we're talking about the paris attack and others. we are learning now at least that there were several injuries at the explosion at the metro station near the e-u. we are also hearing from americanairlines there had been some reports, cbs news has yet to confirm at least one of the

occurred near or around the american airlines desk. american airlines issued a statement saying all of their employees and contract to bees contractors are accounted for. among those injured or killed, american airlines is saying none of their employees are part of that but there have been injuries at the metro station as well. can you remind us a little more about the suspects that brussels authorities have been searching for. they talked about this man who they believe was the primary bomb maker involved in the paris attacks. can you tell us what we know about him. >> yes well you know this announcement came out from belgium authorities that there is now a man hunt underway, public enemy number one, identified as a bomb maker in

dna, they say, at several locations for the paris attacks where 130 people were killed. in addition to that this comes after the arrest of salah abdeslam because it turns out that abdeslam was in a vehicle with him as they were traveling through parts of europe. notably hungary. where this becomes connected this migrant crisis that happened last summer, well we saw so many people coming from syria, and i witnessed it myself. one of the choke points was hungary, if you start connecting the dots you did have one person that did survive the paris attacks, salah abdeslam, in the same car as the suspected bomb maker. headed down to hungary, it just gives you an idea the network

this is a person, the reason they are interested in finding him not only is he the bomb maker but clearly directed by isis, that's what they suspect. he clearly had strong ties to he clearly had strong ties to the parisattackers. if he is a bomb maker he is clearly dangerous and he is on the run and also points out that he is the person they are looking for. everyone of those explosive devices in paris work. and they don't always work, this man knows what he is doing. this has been a bit of a problem for authorities in

the pour for people to coming them. this is one of the major concerns. and both the belgium and french prosecutors noted that in the press conference that you have thousands, 10s of thousands, unaccounted people, we know they come from syria, we interview them ourselves when into germany. guys in. the people that don't want to register, they don't want to identify themselves won't and then you have the smuggler's network and you have people that are making also passports and that again is part of this investigation the ones they are looking for including him is

name, they are taking advantage of everything. tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of unaccounted refugees a highway stretching from syria to europe well- connected groups in places in brussels and in france where they can have people and weapons in and out of this area. i should report over the weekend they found crates full of cell phones, just disposable cell phones. they know how to communicate, they know how to disappear, they know how to move weapons back and fourth, work detonators, and use household i tells. the level of sophistication shocked officials. >> i can only imagine.

belgium's public broadcasters that one of the explosions at the airport was indeed a suicide attack. someone walked in with explosives possibly strapped to them, wasn't a matter of away. speed. what you are looking at now are images from brussels airport. there have been reports of two explosions there, one is the result of a suicide attack. i'm sure we'll learn about the other one. it occurred in the departure lounge. there have been some reports that it happened at the american airlines desk that has yet to be confirmed by cbs news, american airlines issued a statement saying all of their employees and contractors are okay. later on there was another explosion at the mullenbeck metro station there. the airport has been shut down the train station has been shut

seeing right there is of the outside of the metro station. you can see there is smoke billowing out. the metro station is close to e- u buildings, possibly eu headquarters there. this all is happening with the backdrop of a very high profile arrest of a terrorist connected to the paris terror attacks. there was a concern he as well as others were planning several other attacks when he was picked up on friday. he was now in custody, salah abdeslam, but they were searching for others a man known for his bomb-making skills. charlie is on his way to brussels. they are talking ability the challenge that authorities are

it seals like this neighborhood has become a hot bed for jihadist moving back and fourth across the borders in syria and make their way back, charlie, it has become very challenging for authorities to sort of break into this community. i think a lot of people would find it very surprising that this man, salah abdeslam, one of europe's most wanted was able to cross back into belgium and go right back to his neighborhood. exactly right under the noses of antiterrorist squads. this would one of the most spied-on areas of the world because of the number of terrorist attacks we spoke to the mayor, said you can't search every house and maybe 100,000 people in the area itself. speaking to the home secretary,

asking, what took solong? he said we don't understand the complexity of the network here, they are able to communicate without being surveilled. the neighborhood is very tight. we spoke to georgetown professor featured in last night's report, he said they do not snitch on their neighbors and the reason is these are brutal people that killed 130 people in paris. they are not about to pick up the phone and call the police and say yeah, found at the end of this street, i know where this person is. now not only have an allegiant, a loyalty of people, but the level of fear. still not only salah abdeslam made his way back into belgium, he was hiding out in an area five blocks from where he grew up.

belgium prosecutors said we are just assuming he was there the whole time. he has been on the run for a month. maybe he just reappeared. fingerprints showed up on a couple of residents in that area there is no date on fingerprints, bewe know there was a problem, that he wasn't in hiding but may have been planning further attacks and that triggered this national, international man hunt in connection to the paris attacks. we need help finding this man today they are dealing with what they are dealing with. i guess the nightmare scenario he was out there making bombs, how many suicide vests are out there? where are they? how are they moving?

speed what you are looking at here is the exterior of a metro station, in we are asking eu asked its employees to stay home, not col back to work. this is one explosion in brussels what started this whole thing off were reports of two explosions at the airport. we are learning there is one suicide bomber at the airport, this is video of people quite literally running for their lives at the airport. the airport is completely shut down, in terms of injuries and number of dead, we know one person is dead at the airport and there are several injuries. the a-p is reporting that at

seen with facial injuries at least one person removed on a stretcher, a lot going on in brussels. in terms of security, they are on high alert. the airport is completely locked down, the metro station is completely locked down, things are very, very tense. two explosions at the airport, one explosion at a metro station close to the eu headquarters and a lot of very, very, very tense on edge people in brussels today. charlie, when i think about salah abdeslam is now in prison yet now we don't know how coordinated these attacks are. we are still waiting to find out details, but i would think of him as he called the masterminds of the paris attack he would be a ringleader

slow anything down if in fact these explosions are all connected which i would think would have authorities thinking, there are other people out there, other people who can pull the strings, other people who can takeover in terms of ordering a suicide bomber to move into place like it is believed a suicide bomber is at the airport for someone to plant a bomb. >> it shows you the level of sophistication with the isis network, the belgium prosecutor, this is ongoing, if you are talking about the one paris cell where 130 people were killed with the one remaining survivor, they are talking about multiterror cells. this became as a surprise to us and other people in belgium. not only was this man in hiding in this neighborhood, salah abdeslam, but his fingerprints were found at a place where

french prosecutor, lots of weapons, heavy weapons detonators. so this wasn't a man who just went to ground, if he was on the run from authorities you would imagine he would still be involved in isis operations, just be too hot too much attention on him. if that was the case certainly where he was hiding further operations were being planned that's what they believed. if you arrest somebody like salah abdeslam, a person identified thought to have got the detonators, shuttling the fighters back and fourth drove they will to france, prosecutors say he was supposed to blow himself up but the conversation that he had. so yes. you arrest somebody like that, high profile person from a known isis cell directed from isis headquarters in syria.

what appears to be another active cell. people that have suicide vests in place and suicide bombers. they have suicide bombers who are ready to attack. they have weapons. and they know how to get to places not only get to places, the whole place is a heightened security. places like the airport, metro station, other areas have an increase security presence there. even with that increase security presence they know how to get around it apparently, that's what's happened at the airport. >> i heard people use a phrase, you cutoff the head of a monster and another head sort of pops up. just to give you a few more details here in terms of confirmation, belgium

are dead, 35 severely injured. we are not sure in terms of the location but i'm going to presume that that's at the airport. the belgium crisis center has confirmed there were two explosions at the brussels airport with several victims and also that the explosion happened at the departure hall. charlie, i know that you are on your way, we may come back to you now. i just want to talk to susan lynch from the irish times. can you hear me? give us an idea what your location is and what you have been hearing? >> like all journalists, i woke to the story this morning, immediately got to try to move to the airport to get to the scene. as soon as this story starts emerging from brussels airport we began to hear stories of another attack in the center of brussels.

parallel incidents going on, at least 10, maybe 13 according to some reports, people have been killed this morning in an attack at brussels airport which is the east of the city, now there is also been incidents in some of the metro stations in the center of brussels particularly a metro station that's 500 meters away from the headquarters of the european union institutions, it is a very developing and worried situation here in brussels. are you hearing more than one metro station may have been attacked? >> yes. some reports up to four have been attacked. that is not clear there have been live pecktures from the metro station, one has been attacked i've seen pictures of smoke coming out of it. and right of the eu institutions there have been unconfirmed reports that there have been attacks there.

and come out of the there definitely has been something at muehlenbeck station, and smoke can be seen emanating from that station. you are based in brussels right? >> yes i live here covering from the irish times newspaper i've been here over 3 years. give me a sense what the mood has been like since friday from the high profile attack of salah abdeslam, a key figure in the terrorist attack in paris, were people nervous? about this arrest? brussels? >> i think what happened people were extremely shocked. things have kind of settled down here, there have been a sense that salah abdeslam, this man on the run maybe fled to

things had already calmed down from the height of the security threat back in november. people were extremely shocked when the first raid happened in the area when the arrest ofabdeslam friday. maybe i'm being critical, but there was a sense of relief by the belgium that they got their man if you like, a lot of interviews by senior politicians here thanking the belgium and french police maybe the public got complacent. maybe the minister warned the country was on high alert since the capture of abdeslam. i don't think anybody was expecting the level of coordinated attacks. one thing to keep in mind, it was prime rush hour here the first attacks incidents in

before 8 a.m. local time. and the metro took around 9 a.m. local time, exactly when people were going to work in the eu institutions. there is a real concern that the metro station has been shocked and knocked up to the level four. >> thank you so much for talking to us. i know you are probably going to be really busy, hopefully we'll have a chance to talk in with you later on. i'm joined by vlad. i am really happy that you are here. you spent a lot of time in muehlenbeck. you've did some reporting of the nature of that neighborhood. the challenge that authorities in brussels are facing when trying to make connections in that neighborhood, i think a lot of people were really

abdeslam went right back into the neighborhood he called home. >> muehlenbeck and belgium in general is one to send most fighters to iraq per capita. in other words a young, dis- affected youth mostly with immigrant backgrounds that come from north africa predominantly. in belgium particularly because of the unique nature of the country itself. languages, french, german spoken, there are multiple governments on top of that forces. imagine you are trying to coordinate a response to any kind of terror threat. you have one that deals in both, they have to coordinate with each other and may not faces. on the other hand you have the

example, where abdeslam grew up is less than 100 yards away from where the mayor's office is. we actually stood on the doorsteps of the office of the mayor and looked across the plaza and we could see where salah abdeslam grew up. when i asked the mayor just as charlie did recently this week when he asked her how is it he was living still here in the neighborhood right under yournoses, how can this coordinated effort work if you are people trying to attack the country living in the plaza single day? her response was normally the federal police, the government police does not share national security measures with the local police. you see what red tape is occurring for example you don't have the same red tape in belgium that you would have in france, for example or in

forces are coordinated in how they approach terrorism. so that's a problem. the young people that live in muehlenbeck. there are good law-abiding people there, but there is clearly a problem. clearly a jihadist strain running through brussels, apparently in some of these neighborhoods within brussels that makes it very difficult for police to root them out. when the paris attack happened, there was a lot of talk about young people feeling disenfranchised, not connected to the greater european culture in france or brussels. when you were in muehlenbeck did people talk about that? >> they talked about the fact that they feel as if they are not part of belgium society. belgium made them feel as if they are other, as if they are

part of that is for example, so i'm being told our cbs national security analyst is joining us on the phone. unfortunately we talknd these situations. it appears this is a coordinated attack that brussels is under attack one at a metro station one at the airport what do you take of it. >> reporter: our hearts go out to the victims, we'll have to see how this unfolds, it is an attack last week, certainly a suggestion that these attacks have been pre-planned hand perhaps elements of network that they'll be revealed and perhaps arrested or disrupted in the coming days and weeks

that perhaps were already underway. there is no doubt this is a so fest indicated attack. you now have multiple explosions at a major european airport in brussels in the metro system in belgium and it is paralyzing yet again a major western capitol. so this is a terrible development of course one as you were just saying suggests that belgium has a much deeper problem, one that dates back many years to a deep pocket of radicalization, now accelerated, one of the deadliest attacks in european soil in american history. we know public transportation is shut down, flights are being diverted if they were headed towards

at a time, though, today these explosions when the country was already on high alert. we already have news of this high profile arrest, news that authorities were searching for other suspects one that was an expert bomb maker. i know it would come as a surprise how when a country is already on high alert. how were terrorists able to pull these explosions off? speaks to how difficult it is to stop this sort of thing. >> reporter: demonstrates not only these types of attacks are to prevent before it happens, it suggests a broader problem where these cells and networks are immerging how they are planning and plotting attacks.

wake up call here. elements of the islamic state that were mobilized. we know many were preexisted. there have been thousands of foreign fighters from the west in particular from pockets in europe that have been traveling to and from iraq and syria. many have been tracked, many have not. i think this again reflects not only the difficult of this work but the challenge of the number of individuals that could prove deadly. also under scores the fact that you don't necessarily need thousands to be deployed if you have a few dozen committed with the expert bomb maker in the mix, that can prove strategically, valuable to the terrorist, certainly incredibly

i think that's unfortunately the reality we face that europe is embedded with some of these terrorists and radicals it is very difficult for authorities for the amount before it happened. and charlie said earlier what struck him was how successful today's attacks have been. all three of these bolls went off that it is not always the case, that bomb makers are not often skilled at the job. how do you make for how successful today's attacks have been the sort of training that this bomb maker would have had to have. >> well i think there are two troubling elements to the success of the attacks that we are witnessing. one is the fact that you've had

fact that they've been so devastating. news reports with victims coming out of the scene saying this looked like a war zone so these were not just simple pipe bombs or minor bombs, these were significant bombs coordinated in multiple locations. the second part of this that's so dangerous and troubling is the synckization of the attacks you have them in major centers of activity commercially in terms of transport and the fact that it's so well coordinated and effective. so the fact that the bombs were deadly and the fact that they were synchronized in a european capitol. that's what people said about

to a shift in strategy, a shift in the style, that it was so coordinated that authorities were kept on their toes when they ran to one explosion, then another one happened. >> almost if it is meant to distract. you watch for one attack, you wait for a moment before you launch another one. the question that i have in looking at the reports that i come in as we show images of the scene at brussels airport around the city. in your estimation i'm asking you to speculate a little bit also based upon your intelligence analysis would this be something that was done in retaliation for the arrest of salah abdeslam? because we know that according to belgium media reports he was perhaps planning something else or perhaps already in the works? this is just a molt to strike back in the wake of his arrest. >> this strikes me, vlad, based

it strikes me these are attacks that were already pre-planned that they were likely underway or at least could be taken off the shelf and implemented and deployed and it is less about retaliation that may be part of the motivation here and more about target of opportunity and realization that the networks and the plots were exposed now that these arrests had happened. that authorities may have found ways to arrest or disrupt these networks and so rather than have that happen these plotters and attackers would then accelerate their attacks. this is obviously something that authorities were worried about. ongoing threats, developments of the networks that were still out there the planning that was happening around abdeslam, but

this is exactly what authorities were worried about. the plans were already underway that they would be accelerated and that's, i think, what we're seeing again a lot of speculation but i think based upon what we know that's likely what's happened. >> yeah. you know, the question of course is when we look and i think americans are going to be waking up to this horrific news and wonder, an airport under attack, given all the security measures put into place in the wake of 9/11, and multiple terrorist attacks including one in madrid, people are going to say, we have all these security measures in place and still able to get an explosive device near or even into an airport, a metro station, these are targets and opportunities what can be done to stop them?

security profile and protocols at the airport revolve around ensuring that nothing gets on the plane in flight. a lot of the rings of security is going to be largely built around that that has to do with the checking of passenger profiles, et cetera. the rest of the airport before the elements of check in. >> juan, i just want to cut into you a little bit. we want to bounce back to charlie, he was able to arrive at the airport. what's the scene like at the airport, as i understand you weren't able to get in. as we were racing towards the airport it was that last off ramp, we have ambulances flying passed us, a lot of it is

trying to get in there, told a very burly officer you cannot go there. i said we are have to get there, we are press. he said you go there you are going to blow yourselves up, this is still clearly an active scene, we are trying to get as close as we can to set up a media location at the airport you can see the look on their faces taking this obviously very seriously. there are still bombs they are looking for. charlie when you were trying to get into the airport i'm assuming that loads of people were either driving away rushing away from the airport, what's the scene right now? do you see people that are passengers people that are civilians? >> it is just a one-way onramp to get to that airport, we couldn't see people running away. it is a big city airport, you've seen it yourself so they weren't on the road that we

there is obviously the entire place locked down there is a huge police presence there. just to look at the face there is an active and ongoing situation. he said there are several bombs. these are the type of reports that you know you get to these situations they are not getting all the information. all they are telling us is we still well away from it. we stay to another area as close as we can. we are looking at pictures we had pictures of the exterior of the airport clouds milling about and if authorities think there is a possibility of other bombs, especially when we are hearing news that at least one of the explosions was a suicide bomber. how can you even really know whether or not there is another person in that crowd that we're looking at who may be part of this plot. they must be particularly tense there. i just want to bring everyone up to speed based upon what we

two explosions at brussels airport one, the result of a suicide bomber at least one other explosion at a metro station, possibly other metro stations may have been hit but we can at least confirm one, an explosion close to eu headquarters. in terms of the number of people dead, 13 people dead being reported by the media in brussels. 35 severely injured that number could grow of course. all transportation, public transportation has been shut down in brussels. you cannot fly in or out or the airport and the metro stations and buses are completely shut down as well. >> we are also hearing that the government is asking people to stay where they are. i just looked at a tweet from the brussels airport that says don't come to the airport, the

avoid the airport area. as charlie pointed out there will be more explosive devices and may have to consider the flights or planes on the tarmac or flights railroad in -- already in the air as well. given that as charlie points out, that you had the very shocked look on the face of a police officer as he told charlie to step back. there must be a serious concern that this is not over yet. >> and the fact that there may be other attackers out there, other elements of a plot that may be unfolding, i think that's of great concern no doubt of authorities in belgium. other authorities have to be worried as well. no doubt authorities in france throughout europe are incredibly attentive and

for any bits of information or intelligence to give them a sense whether there is other plots or attacks underway as we've talked about in other cases, whether or not this inspires or prompts others who are inclined with the islamic state and these groups to begin to attack in ways they have planned previously. authorities not just in brussels, not just in bell july throughout europe are going to be very worried about what they don't know, what may be unfolding in the hours if not days to come. juan are there any take aways for other european countries and here in the united states as to security precautions, the fact that it is so, apparently appears it was relatively easy to get some kind of explosive device very close to this airport, very close or within even a metro station, is it, do

or as we saw in france those were real soft targets, cafes and theaters? these have a very, very large police presence? so i'm wondering, are other european countries other cities going to be looking what's happening in belgium and perhaps taking away some form of measures they can implement today in their capitols? absolutely, authorities in all the major capitols in europe are no doubt going to be strengthening their security measures at the airports. and they can flex what security measures they put in place certainly increase for example vehicle checks, moving in and out of airports no doubt increase the visibility of police officers perhaps even more heavily armed. these are para military-type of

dogs to detect potential bombs and baggage that may be left at the curb side, et cetera. there are things they can do to flex the security in and around airports. the trouble again with airport security is the vast bulk of the infrastructure and the rings of security are built to prevent a bomb and various individuals from getting onto a plane. that leaves exposed other parts of the airport and certainly ore parts that have individuals congregating and allow a terrorist group to fully exploit an airport. we've seen this over the years, the famous attack on the rome airport many years ago, terrorists know that airports are significant symbolic and economic targets so they'll use

western capitols and western counter terrorism authorities doing everything possible to lock down security where they can in and around airports. >> stand by, i'm actually while you were talking i was thinking to myself in los angeles we had somebody, the ticket counter at the los angeles airport, to your point, in the general waiting area not beyond the points of security they were able to get very, very close to hurting people. >> the news that we are getting is at least one of the explosions occurred in the departure lounge, it may have occurred at the american airlines desk. american airlines has issued a state saying all of their employees and contractors are accounted for. we have ryan heath on the phone, ryan you report for politico you are in central brussels right now.

in the city are the streets empty? >> they are empty expect for the bluffs traffic, i say there is a state of total confusion, i hear sirens emergency vehicles trying to move around, there could have been a lot of ambulances rushing, and a shut down of the mass transit, public transportation system. the metro, the trains, coming to and from the airport, they can't leave the perimeter of the airport because there is no way to go out. there is a lot of confusion given there are other explosions in the district that have the european union headquarters and getting more and more reports among my colleagues that there are more explosions and loud noises but hard to con confirm what they mean at this point. the question people are

symbolic city one home to the european union, belgium has had other terror threats in other cities. are you hearing at all that those cities are under lock down, those cities are gearing up, or at least anticipation awaiting to see if anything happens there. >> absolutely on high alert. the city of belgium has the threat level back to november when brussels was on the lock down for four days. i think it is very clear from what the interior minister has been saying that they expect other terror cells who feel under pressure, under attack because of these arrests and raids last week, they think those cells are going to go back into some form of activity, it is too early to say whether that's the cause of today's explosion, it would be an extraordinary coincidence if there are not some help. >> you know ryan earlier we

in brussels susan lynch, i asked her about what it was like in the city after news that salah abdeslam had been arrested, whether or not there was a sense of relief or more concern when you learned that authorities were also looking for other people, a bomb maker, what has it been like in brussels since friday since that high profile arrest. i would say reasonably calm. i think there is a sense that the belgium authorities are getting their act together but possibly also a sense of resignation that really they are too far behind the game. when you've had cells radicalizing for a number of years, people continuing to leave and go to syria for other locations. it is not easy to get on top of that in the face of two or three or four months when they've scrambled to track down salah abdeslam, and seen that between the belgium and french authorities.

the cameras are turned on the sourcing we have behind the scene is there is tension in the ranks there. and a sense this must be going to continue for some time and people don't sort of lock themselves in their home or anything like that, there is an assumption that we're not at the end of the process yet. >> it is interesting the minister of belgium saying on friday that they had conducted more than 100 raids in the wake of the paris attacks to try to not only capture salah abdeslam. but the airport and metro station, the number and the threat is perhaps even greater than they may have anticipated. >> yes. there are currently 315 active terror i feel cases that the authorities have open in brussels and belgium. that's a huge number for a small country like belgium and

essentially there has been sort of a chronic under funding of these sort of security and intelligent sources. the funding and the resources and the skills and general capacity. when they make that leap forward that change that has happened. like trying to land the plane with one wing or blindfolded what've the metaphor is. it is a very difficult task. of course they are going to have to step up to the mark or people are going to remain in fear and state of confusion. >> i'm wondering if residents now this might be the new norm that things have shifted permanently for them. >> i hope not somebody who doesn't live here myself, that

brussels is not only the home, an important military alliance that involves the u.s. and canada as well. the diplomatic capitol of the world. there are more entities here than any other city on earth. it is obviously a very easy target when you combine that with the fact that if they are -- certainly unlargely areas. people that don't feel that the community has been integrated in a society. it is a perfect storm or cocktail for these sorts of problems. certainly a great way of describing it, i think a perfect storm or cocktail. not new, something we've been talking about for awhile. for some reason really authorities have not been able to slow it down, certainly seems like these attacks have been particularly well organized.

sort of thing, a multi-tiered organization that's probably also very well funded. now right now we are going to pause a little bit. some stations are going to be leaving us, some stations are going to be joining us. we just want to bring you up to speed as to what has occurred the breaking news for this morning is that there have been several explosions in brussels belgium. two explosions at the airport in the departure lounge the number of dead right now is around 13 that's what we can confirm, 35, possibly more injured. another location, a metro station there is a report of another explosion. we know for sure there has been an explosion at one location, a possibility of another explosion, for sure at one metro station, this station is

eu headquarters. eu headquarters. the airport is locked down all public transportation is locked down, there will be no flights coming in and out all flights are being diverted and people in the city have been told to stay put, stay home if they have not gone out for the day yet and stay put. essentially we are looking at a city that is frozen, that is essentially on lock down until authorities can figure out if the threat has passed or if there is a possibility of more explosions. i know charlie spent the morning trying to make it to the airport, he managed to get there and turned away by very burly police officers warning there is no way he could get to the airport even with the press pass, there is a concern there may have been more bombs, at

the result of a suicide bomber there are crowds and crowds of people who were expecting to get on flights who left the airport but still milling about if another suicide bomber in that mix authorities have to be concerned about that as well. this can only be describe as a well-organized the attack that happened here in the same location reminds us of the attack in paris. 10 people may have been killed in an explosion on the mote train in brussels according to the belgium broadcaster, not giving anymore details but the number 10 people possibly killed in that explosion on a metro train we have a senior correspondent on the phone joining us right now, we were talking about the difficulties in belgium police trying to coordinate efforts

what do you know about the coordinated efforts to root out terror cells with other eu countries? france, which suffered the attacks on november 13th that killed 130 people. what can we expect to see with france, germany, others surrounding belgium and afar. >> the cooperation has clearly ramped up and i think that's the case the day after the paris attacks france and belgium are in daily contact, i would assume much more than daily contact to be honest because there is simply too many leads to follow and not enough people to follow them. this is one of the difficulties in operating in the environment in a european union, the

data bases that don't always match up with each other, have different problems like the languages people speak in the eu. that slows down the ability to exchange news and information. you get to other practical problems where you have a situation where police are not able to speak the dialects the terror cell was organizing in brussels. that hampered their ability to realize something was being planned because they weren't able to understand some of the communication that was taking place. complication. when we spoke to the head of the chief of police, he pointed out that the police have difficulties in rooting out these terror cells, they

who can speak arabic, what communications they are using. >> ryan just brought up not just arabic, but a particular dialect. vlad has done some reporting from muehlenbeck he has done some reporting back there. if you've been to the area if you've reported down there what's the feeling that you get down there? do you feel safe? do you feel as an outsider we have a certain idea of what these neighborhoods are like. >> yes. i literally, a little bit like sarah palin, but possibly i actually had a number of occasions i think there is a sense of weariness in the neighborhood it is obvious will the majority of the people, they are a direct threat, they know there are people amongst

actually the radicals they do have support to blend in to sort of take cover for months at a time. i think that's a real mix, people that move there, pick up value. you have these young professionals, rather rich couples to sort of score a bargain on the property market. you have people that are there because there is nowhere else for they will to go they can only sustain people from the language they come from or cram in accommodation and really reduce their costs. then you have a situation where you sort of have big box stores. you have sort of not quite an ikea, furniture stores, supermarkets out there and a

you have people coming and going in the area not just a place where you can apply one label or one feeling to the area definitely a sense you've moved somewhat different when you crossed the canal. you have sort of the general fashion stores you would see in main street in an american city. it feels like what's in place, you cross the canal. you have a the cafe that seems to be male dominated obviously people in the french, there is nonlanguages there. you definitely have a different feel, but it is not one black and white feeling it is a real mix. >> ryan stand by for one moment. we want to bring in elizabeth

has covered the paris attacks extensively. all right ryan going back to your point, this is a point that we want to make as we look at these images. we also understand the news just in now that the eur ostar canceled trains i'm not sure if that is all trains going into london and paris, trains leaving brussels are canceled right now the eurostar, international travel there. ryan the question about the muehlenbeck neighborhood, there is a very different feeling once you cross that canal in that area, people are tense or nervous with a city under the lock down after the paris attacks, i felt very different there when we figuring out the root causes, surrounding in paris.

what i meant when i saw in muehlenbeck. when you have the mayor saying she doesn't have any control over the investigations that are being done into the terror cells in her neighborhood, that is a problem. because there are a lot of people that are still perhaps in that neighborhood while you point out the majority are law- abiding people. there is seriously a problem going on there, and haven't figured out how to root it out. >> there is a confidence problem at the local level not just in muehlenbeck, other areas of bell july as well. the moment i say that when i go on shows like yours, belgium media and government officials come down on me like a ton of bricks because they feel that is belgium bashing. you have to remember that a large percentage of your population is coming from another country where there are arabic speakers and you don't

and you have a problem, that's something belgium is going to have to reckon with. i fully accept as a resident and as a neutral journalist observing the situation, she is not in control of an international intelligence network and can't put the terrorists out of their home. when you know there are 95 trained radicals and give them the list from authorities and you are the same party as the national prime minister but haven't come up with a plan what you are going to do about it it comes across as almost anyone who is looking at that objectively. i think the more these incidents continue to happen the less belgiums themselves are going to accept from local officials. i don't know if that's going to jolt the system or force those individuals to leave their positions or force a different set of rules and a way that the levels of government relate to

pressure will increase the more local populations come under this pressure. people want to be happy going into lock down mode every few months. the system can't get it back together. >> it strikes me interesting that france, for example which has had multiple terror threats, france has dealt with terrorism a number of times. i want your take on it as somebody who lives in belgium, also when brussels was under a lock down they were reeling from what had happened whereas france pretty much opened up, paris was continuing as usual. in fact that was a point of pride for the french people they were going to continue to go to work, continue to use the metro system, we saw a city under full lock down where things were not moving and i wonder if that is because as

the point you just made not that they don't have their head in the sand, they just don't know how to deal with the terroristthreats. just before i joined the show, there was a look of confusion and surprise on the face of the police office when he was confronting why he couldn't get into the airport. i come across that an awful lot as well. i've been hearing from friends on facebook and other platforms what they've been changing to their daily schedule, how it's been affecting them, you have so many different reactions one of my friends is stuck in a bank branch and clearly been told don't move anywhere. and others are saying leave the bank, it is fine. when you have contradiction and lack of preparedness, that leads to confusion and you can't trust what the authorities are telling you.

operate with confidence when you face a major threat like this because you don't know who to believe and you yourself haven't been trained in how to deal with it. it definitely, a lot of people acting in a contradictory way rather than a society coming together. >> also comes up when a terrorist situation is a refugee crisis. what has been the attitude about accepting refugees and that sort of thing when stuff like this starts to unfold. >> this is one of those examples where you see the two layers of brussels operating. you have the people that leave here and don't really interact with the eu, and then of course you have that decision making that the government agreement how to handle the refugees, that's how the people are

term, i think there are around about 200 refugees in across belgium. there is one refugee that had to leave syria and his wife and unborn child behind and had never seen his kids. in order to make it here and try to establish a foothold and get his family out of syria. there are thousands of examples of that operating in a sensible way, people aren't necessarily being embraced by the community, i know that friend of mind has lived about 200 yards from the center of the town outside of brussels and the people in the town he says don't seem to notice that he and his other refugees sort of go into this hanger in the industrial park. they are warm, fed, but not really integrated into the community.

decisions on the refugee crisis, really struggling with how to come toterms how to make a government accept refugees, and part of a coordinated union response, how do you bring to life those ideals in the fundamental charter of life? can they tend to sort of get shredded when a real crisis comes along. you have people trying to do the right thing and the decision-making system, really struggling with how to have 28 countries to make something happen. and the result is to measure desperate is probably an emotional word to use, turkey, opening up a legal front door for others in syria to come in. that's a very controversial

it meets a bunch of legal tests. shows how farther being pushed to come up with any sort of situation. all the appeals that people haven't really worked up until this point. ryan, i want to reset for our viewers who are just joining us now and are looking in at the images, reports of explosions at brussels airport where belgium media is reporting 13 people dead 35 severely injured. vtm saying at least 10 people killed here, unknown injuries here we know the metro station is not far from the union meets. i am looking at your twitter feed and you had a tweet about a half an hour ago, told staff to get into work today or get fired. i want to know the background behind a story, especially since the government is telling people to stay where they are.

sort of contradictory messages. as i understand it and been reported to me that it is an irish bar near the eu headquarters. there are several bars, that's why i don't want to speculate on the name. it is probably just this one bar that is really putting the pressure on people, but i think that this bar owner has spotted a situation where you have literally thousands of people unable to move, many stuck outside buildings not able to get to their homes in the suburbs around brussels so they spot a business opportunity and they are clearly angling in on the possibility to make money of the people stuck there whether putting their employees first.

situation, is there we have security instructions coming up, asking us about safety first rather than rushing to danger. but there will be situations like that around brussels right now. i know for example the commissioner of the european union, visiting brussels today and stuck in the eu quarters. she doesn't have anyway to get out stuck waiting for a driver to take her home and not anyone to meet or move around easily. so you have a lot of these different situations where people are essentially stranded or pressured in one way or another to act in a way and that will keep going throughout the day. ryan you know we are saying that the explosion at the metro station is not too far from eu headquarters. if one was trying to make a statement a political statement

a metro station so close to eu headquarters. >> i think that's sending the message that no one is safe, that we can hit a major target at short notice. either it is being planned over a number of months or a reaction potentially to the raids and arrests we saw last week of salah abdeslam. so to actually go into the eu headquarter is really something that they are not taking it to anybody. there multibe multiple explosions in that eu headquarter, i don't imagine that's one particular part of the eu being targeted, targeting another part, seems to be, let's just create

that over all area. you can imagine it links back to the refugee crisis, like the attitude of european government towards syria, towards isis and so on. it would be very difficult to pinpoint at this stage what's driven us because we haven't had people claim responsibility but it is not hard to identify the short list of motivations that could have led people. i just want to let our viewers know who may be joining us, authorities are referring to what is occurring in belgium as a terror attack. we have information from afp in regards to american airlines there is some speculation that the airport may have taken place near an american airlines counter, saying none of the employees were injured in the explosions that ripped through the airport, just updating our viewers in the united states who may be watching this wondering about the speculation that this may have happened

>> one of the images i saw of the check-in sections there was that. that is 2 to 3 rows down from american airlines sections four or five brussels airline and airlines in the alliance group of airlines tend to be operating. all though there is some flexibility where those check ins are located in that given moment, that's where people really are arriving from the section of the airport and coming from the train station and pop out in that section you have a starbucks, you have an information desk at the airport, it is quite, that area where the bomber really targeted sort of activity well because they have chosen the busiest part of the airport

what we've learned is that at the airport one of the explosions was connected to a suicide bomber when we spoke to juan earlier, a senior national security analyst, we were talking about security at the airport and the fact that you would think at a time like this when a country like belgium is under high alert one would not be able to walk into an airport and explode a bomb. but this area, this departure area is probably one of the least secure places. you talked about the fact most of the security is geared towards protecting the planes and putting an explosive on the plane. you're talking about the area where people getting out of the car, children, families little in materials of security protections there. >> what's interesting is we'll have to see now how airport authorities government authorities react to this attack.

place measures that you see in countries where by before you even get to the airport? there are security measures in west africa for example which i covered for a number of years, there are a number of measures outside of the airport before you bring in luggage in the area to determine whether or not you nay be a threat to the passengers in the materialal itself. >> very similar, being in egypt you couldn't get into the hotel without going through a metal detector first. also many other items. they check everything and you know over the years here in this country we've seen an increase in security. it is much more intense in other countries that have been living under this sort of threat for a very long time. >> i just want to update our viewers from chris van cleave reporting there is no specific threat in the washington d.c.

the united states but that police are under, taking precautions to ensure that nothing happens but again no specific or credible threat to the d.c. area. obviously security folks beefing up their precautions there on the ground. as we know the report in brussels is shut down all flights are being diverted if you are planning on heading that way if you had a flight stop over there. check in because things have definitely changed. earlier we spoke to our security analyst what's happening in brussels and the larger part of what's happening let's play that. >> reporter: there is no doubt this is a sophisticated attack, you have explosions at a major european airport in brussels in the metro system and paralyzing

capitol. so this is a terrible development of course as you were just saying suggests that belgium has a much deeper problem one that dates back to many years to a deep pocket of radicalization now accelerated by the emergence of the islamic state manifesting what has become the deadliest attacks in european history. we are hearing all public transportation is shut down we know the airport has been shut down flights are being diverted if they were headed towards brussels. this comes at a time these explosions be the country was already on high alert. we already had word of the arrest and news that authorities were searching for other suspects that they were

i think this would come as a surprise how when a country is already on high alert, how were terrorists able to pull these three explosions off. this demonstrates not only these types of attacks are difficult to fare out before it happens, it suggests a broader problem to determine where these cells and networks are emerging how they are plotting attacks. i think paris was the extreme wake up call here. we had elements of the islamic within european terrorist networks that were mobilized and we know that many of these networks that pre-existed that there have been thousands of foreign fighters in particular

to and from iraq and syria. many have been known and tracked, many have not. i think that again reflects not only the difficulty of this work, but the challenge of the volume of the number of individuals who are part of cells that could prove deadly. also under scores the fact that you don't necessarily need thousands to be deployed. if you have a few dozen who are committed with an expert bomb maker in the mix, that can prove strategically, incredibly valuable to the terrorists and deadly to a western capitol. i think that's unfortunately the reality that we face that europe is embedded in some of these terrorists and radicals, it is very difficult for european authorities before

charlie dagita earlier, what struck him is how successful today's attacks have been, that all three of these bombs went off. that it is not necessarily always the case and oftentimes bomb makers are not very skilled at that job. what do you make of just how successful for lack of a better word today's attacks have been and the sort of training that to have. >> i think there are two troubling elements to the success that you have that we're witnessing. one is the fact that you've had these explosions that occurred in the fact that have been so devastating. news reports with victims coming out of the scene saying this looked like a war zone. these are not just simple pipe bombs or minor bombs, these

coordinated in multiple locations. the second part of this that's so dangerous and troubling is the synckization of the attacks you have these in major parts of activity commercially in terms of transport and the fact that it is so well coordinated. the fact these two bombs were deadly and the fact they weresynchronized, and we are witnessing the effects of it. that's what people said was significant about the paris attacks that it spoke to a shift in strategy, a shift in the style of terror attacks, it was so coordinated that authorities kept on their toes when they ran to one explosion then another one happened.

to distract, you wait for a moment to launch another one. and we show images at the scene around brussels airport around the city, in your estimation, i'm asking you to speculate based upon what your intelligence and your analysis, would this be something done in retaliation of salah abdeslam? we know according to belgium media reports, perhaps already in the works and this is just a moment to strike back in the wake of the arrest. >> this strikes me based upon what i know, we are speculating a bit here, it strikes me these attacks that were already pre- planned that they were likely underway or at least could be taken off the shelf and implemented and deployed and that it is less about

be part of a motivation here more about target of opportunity and realization that the networks and the plots were exposed now that these arrests have happened, that authorities may find, may have found ways to then arrest or disrupt these networks and so rather than have that happen these plotters andattackers would then accelerate their attack. this is something that authorities were worried about, worried about the ongoing threats of developments oat networks the planning that was happening around abdeslam. this is plans were already you should way, accelerated and i think what we're seeing a lot of speculation but based upon

you are watching a cbs news special report. we have breaking news this morning, terrorists have struck again in the heart of europe with an apparent suicide bombing at the main airport in brussels and another explosion at one of the city's subway stations. media reports at this hour are saying that at least 21 people are dead we're talking about many others that is severely wounded. all flights to and from brussels have been canceled trains and subways are shut down. authorities are telling everyone in brussels to stay where they are as police search for bombs. elizabeth, good morning. >> explosions happened closely followed by a blast at a subway

very near the european unions institutions. belgium media quoting the belgium prosecutor reports at this stage that there are at least 20 dead and 35 injured. the belgium prosecutor said the airport explosions were as the result of a suicide bomb. pictures on social media show the interior moments after the explosions there was ceilingtiles and debris and photos of the injured online. and describing the scene adds unbelievable. he was on his way to check in when the bombs went off and said everything came down, there was glass, chaos. elizabeth is reporting this story, receiving information

situation as we've reported 2 explosions at the airport one, elizabeth palmer reported on the attacks in paris which killed more than 120 people. elizabeth, given the time line how soon this has come after those attacks, what's your sense of things. >> one thing that struck me last week, the president said that the network around the paris attackers was much bigger than they had realized. . seems like this was revenge or a last ditch attempt for a capitol known to be vulnerable, and known to be a cell of terrorists. >> what do you make, elizabeth of this attack coming so soon

abdeslam, saying at the time that they suspected more attacks were imminent, what do you make of that? >> well i'm guessing like everybody if this bomb maker the man who was identified yesterday having made the bombs for the paris attacks still in operation, then the terrorist cell will have had some explosives ready to use. perhaps this was triggered by the arrest as i said, or they just feel they are going to shut down because there will be massive police hunts and man hunts across borders everywhere.

>> we pointed out in this hour we advise our customers to postpone their journey. no trains are currently running to or from brussels which is of course the main station there. elizabeth, you made a point a moment ago where i think some people may have missed one of the concerns that came out of recent discussions was the realization that the network was much larger than they thought. how much larger? >> that's the big question. for example, they didn't even know anything about the bomb maker if he was in europe or bringing pieces of bombs or

impen tra built about this. i can tell you after having i can tell you after having spoken to the french police, they had thousands potential radicalized men, mostly men in france, and each one of them required full-time surveillance. they were already stretched thin. so the idea that they've knot now got to further extend this super surveillance and investigation is going to come as very bad news to security forces that are already really overtaxed. just further owner the point, the transportation point, you know, here in london, there's a train that leaves from brussels pretty much every hour and each train carries 500 people. they've all been shut down. it won't only be chaos in belgium but like london's king cross. there will be thousands who will not be able to get to their destination who have arrived with their luggage and so on. same with paris. same with leo. the repercussions are huge. >> let's talk about the bomb maker for a second. they say he's a belgian citizen who's apparently very, very skilled. all the bombs they believe he's response for, they say, have worked and have worked very well. >> he is skilled, and proof of that is these bombs are made of things you can buy over the counter, nail polish remover and peroxide and that's inherently an unstable compound. and he's managed to make bombs that didn't go off before they were supposed to and did go off when they're supposed to. it's an extraordinary feat really. he knows what he's doing chchlt makes him extremely dangerous.

belgium and france has been closed today. what can you tell us about that? >> when they closed what they call the border between france and belgium after the paris attacks, we know that the young salah abdeslam got through. so wi know there are police checks on the roads. but it's a rural border. so they'll have police on the highways, enough manpower out to get someone on the rural roads some of they'll be doing their best. it won't be complete. it won't be a complete seal. and, of course, we know some of these guys have forged documents. one of the other things that was revealed by the investigation into salah's arrest was that they had contact with a very high quality forger, probably also based in belgium. so it's a terrifically difficult task. >> elizabeth, we know that these attacks were planned at this

hour, of course, in the airport, in the metro station there, there are reports there were at least one suicide bomber. what do we know about that and how does that tie into the september? >> those with multiple suicide bombings, but in the end many were killed by gunfire. in this case, there were reports of gunfire and someone shouting in arabic before the bombing at the airport. but that's only by witness testimony, not independently confirmed. we don't know if people died in the blast or from gunshot wounds. i'm sure that will come out in the morning. but it's so chaotic now and there's so little information, we don't really know what happened in the airport. the prosecutor has confirmed it

there were reports of two explosions, so many questions still to be answered. >> well, thank you, elizabeth. stand by. we'd now like to brick in michael morell, who's our national security adviser from washington, d.c. he's the former cia deputy director. michael morell, good morning to you. what can you tell us about the group that you believe is behind the attacks? >> so, gayle, good morning. i think there's sort of a macro here. the nexus is believed to have been built in europe is large as a result of the investigation, we've learned they've got bomb makers. and after paris, we've done that network. so that's part of the story that's happened today. the other part of the story, the

reflection of the arrest of the logistics chief abdeslam last friday. we know he was involved in additional attack plotting. i think the individuals he was quickly. i think that's happened as well. >> michael, given that, does that mean the attacks are going to happen in the united states? norah norah, to put together such a just more difficult, but not impossible. i think we have to assume isis has built the network here or has already built it. >> michael, i can remember distinctly speaking with you after the paris attacks and you said something very important. you said the strategy against isis is not working from this administration.

>> we pick up the intensity of the fight in iraq and syria after paris. what happens today in brussels if it does indeed turn out to be isis, and they that will be the case, this is a big victory to them. it's still not enough to atake us in the west so this a big win for them. >> michael, you mention the size of the operation in europe and it's bigger than you thought. can you put some kind of parameters of what they're dealing with there and what ultimately is the nightmare scenario there. >> >> so we're talking about several thousand individuals who went from western europe to syria and iraq to fight for isis. a large number of them have come back. they're the threat that we face, right?

western europe is they've built this network and built individual cells, so they're come partmented from each other and it makes it difficult to find one cell from additional cells. how many cells there are, we don't know. but given the number that travel from iraq to syria, i bet the number is large. >> michael, what does it say to you that this attack happened when the area was already under such high alert? >> it shows how under the radar these guys are, particularly in these muslim community sies shut off to the rest of the belgium society. these are no-go zones in a lot of cases for the police and other belgians, so it's very, very difficult to operate in that kind of environmental. >> even at this point, michael, if they haven't been able to infiltrate. given how long and what's happening in europe, are they

>> i think it's the nature and come part meantation of the cells, right? so that's why unraveling -- arresting those individuals who were in some way involved in paris did not get you in any way the cells. that's what we're seeing. >> michael, you've been director of the cia, reached george w. bush every day in the morning on his presidential brief. what's happening now here at home in terms of president obama? how is he being briefed of what's going on? >> he's being kept up to date as we're trying to keep the american people up to date. but i think the most important thing that's happening now is not looking back on what happened but looking forward. i think we have to worry about a couple of things right now. one is additional attacks in europe. right? anything that abdeslam may have been working on may be working forward. you have to worry about

the other thing you have to worry about is cop kate attacks. one thing you have to worry about after any major attacks is lone wolfs who may not be associated with isis may want to go out and do something. have to worry about that in europe and here at home. >> in terms of that, what is happening in terms of a u.s. intelligence picture? i knee you're not inside there, but in terms of what's going on with intelligence agencies at this hour. >> so it's trying to galgt err as much information as possible on what's happening but also going to any source you have, any access you have and gather as much information you have of what might be coming and what you can tell. >> what kind of information do you think they'll get from mr. abdeslam? when the terrorist attacks happened, we heard he actually

asfwhie he was supposed to be a suicide bomber in paris and he lost his nerve and went back to brussels, so that's why he was still alive. i don't know what he's been telling reporters. i don't know if he's talking or calmed up. if he was talking, then this attack might have been prevented because those individuals might have been arrested. so clearly he's not -- if he is talking, he's not sayingering he knows. >> michael morell, thanks. our charlie d'agata is at the brussels airport with the latest on what happened there. charlie, what can you tell us? >> reporter: good morning. we got information that it was a suicide bomber that attacked the airport. there are witness accounts of the explosion and reports that the attacker or attackers were

it happened around 8:00 this morning. they immediately evacuated the airport. we saw some passengers and a aircraft crew leaving the airport. now the entire perimeter has been surrounded by police cars. there were ambulances rushing to and from the airport. we were held back. we tried to get onto the on-ramp in order to approach the airport. at the time the police said, look, you have to stop, you cannot go there. we said, look, we're press. they said they're still looking for explosives. leaving the airport. no flights coming in to brussels international. they've been diverted to other airports. they've shut down the entire train system including euro star. all the systems have been locked down including the airport. >> charlie, we should point out. the brussels airport is a pretty busy transport. my daughter went through brussels the other day for

there's a lot of americans that travel through there. >> hmm. it is a huge hub, anthony. people are coming in and out of -- go on. >> sorry, charlie. continue, i apologize. >> reporter: as you said, it's a huge hub. very active airport. it's very busy. there were flights going out. they immediately evacuated the area. we've been here friday since the arrest of salah abdeslam. we've seen in brussels it's essentially been under lockdown. there's been a high police presence around train stations,

it appears that the attackers were able to circumvent security, tight security around this area to be able to strike right at rush hour. >> and there are reports -- we heard reports this morning, charlie, that at least two or three planes would have been heading to the united states within about two hours after the attack happened at 8:00 this morning vchlt you heard anything about that, about the passengers who might have been at the airport at the time? >> reporter: no. gayle, when we got here, it was chaos. we were trying to speak to passengers. but it's a different road. the police corralled us essentially. i've covered enough of this tragically that you could see in their eyes they were dealing with an ongoing situation and threat. we'll be trying to do that later.

been shut down. this is about as close as we could get and it was just on the other side of that and they set up something like an immediate facility in the field. we haven't been able to talk to passengers leaving the airport. they have told us. they said, look f you want to go any further, you're going to risk being blown up. that's how serious they're taking it. >> charlie, you pointed out in your report yesterday that an december slam, the paris suspect who was finally captured, after he returned to brussels was able to disappear there for months and authorities really don't seem to have an answer about why they weren't able to find him? >> reporter: no. and we've been trying to press the home authorities. we said what took so long. they said they're dealing with professionals, they're dealing

cell phones, drop sim cards, get in and out of areas very quickly. we spoke to the french and belgian prosecutor yesterday who said we're talking in the hundreds. if you think of one cell in paris, they rounded up one group. there's one remaining suspect they caught right in that neighborhood. there are other active cells. clearly that's what they're dealing with here. again w very to point out not only was he able to escape -- salah salah abdeslam wasn't able to just escape but he was able to cross the border and get into his very same neighborhood. we walked it. it's five blocks from the house he grew up in. this is where so many attacks have originated from. you would have thought the net closed down in that area but he was operating right underneath their noses. when we spoke with the

they thought he was believed to have visited they found his fingerprints and detonators and weapons there. he wasn't just in hiding. he wasn't very low. he was part of an active terror cell part of planning attacks. you hear that but you don't expect to hear it the very next day. >> that's such an important point. he was almost hiding in plain spot back in the neighborhood where he grew up and he was able to cross through the paris borders through the european countries at this hour even when we're hearing the points have been closed but it did not stop him before once he had carried out the paris attacks as you had mentioned. what about the concern there that this may be the first wave of attacks? how ramped up is security? we know the train stations are shut down, the airport is shun down. what is the concern there, that this may be the first wave of attacks?

was already at the next to top level of alert before this happened and literally when the arrest of salah abdeslam happened on friday, there was sort of a warning that went out not only in belgium but in neighbored countries that the network is running. it may be a revenge attack. whatever the case, there thoos be a high alert. you think if you have such a key figure in this suspected isis network who's now in prison, it's going to make everybody else scatter, and if there are people in a position to attack, it may make them attack. the warnings were already there. throughout the weekend this was shared with the public. they put an all points bull pin to this suspected bomb maker saying we need help finding this guy. i guess the concern is if this person is a bomb maker from the

believe he is and he's very good, all of those suicide vests worked in the paris attack. how many more suicide vests are there. where is the bomb making factory. how many more are out there. that's why the belgians have shut everything down. we don't know. when we spoke to the belgian prosecutor yesterday, we said, okay, this is the one key individual we're looking for. we're looking for two more out there. he said, we simply don't know. the french prosecutor said there's something like 250 cases that are ongoing now and something like 750 people that are either in jail v been indicted, or are searching for them. that gives you an understanding of the scale of the threat we're dealing with here. >> what can you tell us about the expertise of the belgian authorities. here's somebody who was clearly hiding in plain sight as you say. at the time of his arrest, they said we're looking for the bomb maker. they were expecting more attacks

highest alert, and yet this still happens. >> reporter: well, i mean, gayle, it sort of speaks for itself. i don't think there's any high level of competence before these attacks began. in fairness, i have to point out, there's this neighborhood of mow lam beak. it's big. it's a very tight community, closed down. it's hard to infiltrate. we put it to them. we said surveillance, intelligence, you must have informants on the ground. it must be the hottest spot in the country and that's where you found. they said we can't be sure. they said dna and fingerprints don't have dates on them. they know he was moving between houses in that neighborhood but

do not snitch on your friends. if you know somebody who might be involved in this, you have an alee jachbls of course, there is fear. these are brutal attackers that kill 130 people in paris that may think people on the ground think twice before calling that in to the police even though police are begging for information. it just spikes for itself. here you have isis operativings neighborhood. you have an arrest of an isis -- the key isis player, the only one to get past. you hear the police helicopters flying overhid. at least have an eye on the people who are mostly suspected of being part of this larger isis network. just to recap, charlie, in

there appear to have been three bombs that went off in brussels this morning, two at the airport. the reports are that there are 13 dead at the airport, another ten appear to have been killed at a blast in a brussels metro station. so we're looking at what appear to be 23 dead and perhaps dozens injured at this hour. brussels is basically on lockdown. the borders between franlsd belgium is closed and there's no apparent word from the police in belgium how this occurred other than that it appeared to be at the airport, the suicide attack. >> and it happened at 8:00 this morning which is a very level travel time for passengers going to different locations all around the world. today is tuesday. friday there was a major arrest of the final suspect they were looking for, salah abdeslam who

attacks achlt this point we're looking for a bomb maker who's a 24-year-old belgian citizen who may have also played a role. >> 8:00 a.m. belgium time, 3:00 a.m. our time. the airport you can still see is closed off. they will not let him anywhere close to this point. no planes going or coming. an enormous disruption. that will extend across europe. bruss is a key area for transport. >> we want to get a picture here at home of the u.s. and security. let's bring in jeff pegues, our homeland security correspondent. jeff, what are you hearing from

>> reporter: right now we're hearing there is no threat to the u.s. and their posture has not changed. that's not unusual for them to release a statement like that at this time. what they're focused on is monitoring the situation and helping as much as they can. there's been enhanced coordination between u.s. officials and other officials. however, here at home you will also see at some key transit hub enhanced security. already the new york police department has released a statement saying that they will have enhanced security at transportation hubs and elsewhere. while u.s. officials announce at this time there's no threat against the u.s., they say the posture has not changed.

of force, commuters can expect enhanced controls and increased patrols patrols at u.s. hubs. >> what does it mean with the flights, jeff? >> american airlines has released a statement saying they're attending to their customers, contractors, employee employees trying to assess what happened there because what we're hearing, the explosion at the airport was near the american airlines ticket counter, so american airlines releasing a statement saying they have canceled at least one flight, but there will be more throughout the day. >> jeff, do you happen to know how many other u.s.-bound flights were scheduled to leave this morning? >> reporter: we don't have a number for you, but we know that delta air lines also operate flights out of that airport and we should get more specific numbers on how many flights have

as you might imagine, there will be a ripple effect across europe in terms of flights that are supports to come out of the report and security apparatus across that region. there will be a ripple effect in terms of transportation to the u.s. as well. >> on that note, jeff, scotland yard forces across the uk have increased their presence in the wake of the brussels attack. belgium is report lid sending 225 extra troops to brussels following the blast and brussel resin forcing their security at the airports. thanks, jeff. now let's bring in juan zarate. you were the deputy director during the 2005 attacks in london and you coordinated the response to the attacks. how is the u.s. going to respond to this today? >> you heard a bit of that from

what they'll do is do everything to give them as much intelligence as possible. they'll try to security of u.s. citizens abroad who may have been harmed at certainly here at home do everything possible to deter any security attacks, but also to reassure the public that everything is fine and that they can go about their business. in the london episode in 2005, we were very worried that the first stage of the attacks in london may have just been the harbinger, the beginning of a series of attacks, and i think that's certainly something that belgian authorities are concerned about. french authorities should be concerned about, and certainly something the u.s. will be looking for in terms of suspect activity or threats emerging. for now nothing on the u.s. side but the u.s. is going to do

abroad and also to secure at home. >> juan, salah abdeslam is in custody. he's been in custody for a couple of days now. i imagine law enforcement authorities are all over him trying to find out what's next. what would be happening behind the scenes now? >> they were trying to talk to him extensively about not only what he knew about the paris attacks in november, but to understand the network that he wu dealing with in europe and what plans and plots they may have been thinking about. so right now what they're try dog is getting into his face, trying to understand better what he knows and certainly trying to build on whatever cooperation he's given to them in recent days. the indications are he has been cooperating and any tidbit of information at this point is golden for authorities as they

there are o'cellses, other plots and attacks that may have been occurring in europe. >> he may have been cooperating but he was arrested on friday and here we are with an attack on tuesday morning. does that surprise you? clearly it wasn't yesterday. >> fwail, you're right. what's shocking is how quickly they have been perpetrated. keep in mind after the paris attacks the belgian authority shut down the subway system for a short time worried about precisely this kind of attack. what concerns me is these groups, these cells have been able to operationalize very quickly, but they've been able to respond that they're reacting to real time situation understanding that information may have disrupted potential attacks in the future. and so this may have accelerated their attack plogt but this

attacks plotting, coordinating attacks, bomb blasts that were significant, and certainly it's brought another western capital to the point of paralysis. >> brussels was also on alert in the aftermath of the arrest on friday. were theoryetically supposed to be ready for this. >> anthony, this is the scary part of the threat environment we face. this is something that not only belgian authorities are worried about but french and british and other european authorities. there are really three factors, one, is there are individuals who have clearly deployed and operational operational. this may have been the second one on european soil. the first being paris, and now this. now that's the problem. you have elements of this that remain unknown, certainly sthaerchl have not been caught. second, you have the fact that isis have been able to employ foreign fighters into the

are thousands of europeans who have gone into the iraqi theaters, been trained, fought, and returned. that's a problem. third is some of the cities like in brussels, the naubed in maelbeek, there have been longstanding young individuals motivated to attack citizens, so that's a concern for authorities. all of that plus the cells used to communicate suggests a real problem even on a heightened state of alert to return and promote these attacks. >> the belgian minister told reporters they were surprised abdeslam was still in the country. they thought the had left.

know how large a scale it is or how to operate? >> gayle, it shows they don't have a handle on foreign fighters, particularly those well trained who have moved in and out of the iraqi/syria conflict fluidly and seamlessly. they've not been able to monitor when they move from one country to the next and certainly there are pockets providing safe harbor for these individuals that allow them to operate and even hide in plain sight. that's a really chilling reality for norths in brussels as well as europe >> juan zarate, we ask you to

there are 21 dmed in these russia belgian brussels belgian attacks. they hit the metro and airport system. we're told 11 people died in twin blasts that happened at the brussels airport. there were also around ten killed at the maelbeek metro station where there was also an enormous explosion. there have been multiple wounded that have been evacuated. the scene, chaotic as you can see in the perfects there. again, these are initial reports coming out of those dead and wounded in the attacks in belgium this morning. >> we should note a reporter with the ap is also reporting that the brussels fire brigade is warning that the airport toll is only an initial one. that rubble from the collapsed ceiling and departure hall makes it very difficult to know what

>> indeed a chaotic situation there, not only dealing with the dead and wounded on the scene, those, of course, at the airport, the metro station shut down there, but also the law enforcement authorities trying to prevent any additional attacks. you have the leaders who have already convened. emergency meetings have been on the phone with one another to intelligence, et cetera, to make sure they have all hands on deck at this hour. >> the french president has called for an emergency meeting on tuesday. everyone is still trying to sort out what's happening and it's very frightening as we know. it follows the arrest of an december slam on friday when this region was already on a heightened state of alert and the fact that it's happened. >> we've talked about this.

between france and belgium is closed. flights out of the belgium airport has stopped. most of the train travel out of brussels has been shut down. they're also telling people not to use their cell phones because the mobile networks are absolutely saturated. they're asking them to text or use social media to contact relative because the phone system is basically being overrun. we want to bring in "sky news" reporter alex rossie. he was at the airport when the blast occurred and he described the situation earlier this morning. >> reporter: we have all moved. some are on coaching. we're heading to a nearby village. there's a crisis center that has been set up. very little information on the ground. we've all been told by the police -- this is what people on the ground have been told -- that it is a terrorist attack.

vd gone through security. we heard two explosives. you're going through your normal routine when you get on a flight. i was going to buy chocolates for my children for easter and then i was returning after picking them up from the shelf, you heard the two explosions. you thought, immediately, that's not the normal sounds. my instincts were, this is a

going toward the floor, . so whether the threat picture has increased here at home, they are taking extra precautions nonetheless, correct? >> absolutely. i'll tell you, nora, the most difficult thing, these are what we call open transportation systems so they are very difficult to really sort of close effectively until all you can do is increase the number of random patrols so someone doesn't understand the complete security picture and it makes it more difficult for them, more dangerous for them to try and execute an attack. but you know, this is a difficult, from a security point of view, the metro system subway and train systems are the most difficult to detect. all right fran thank you for joining us. one other quick note i wanted

said about the unexploded devices, what might that suggest? >> no doubt what we are going to look for is similarities between the abandon suicide vest in the paris attack. if these are, if the explosives are the same, if the sort of construction is similar or the same, it will give them a greater confidence that this is the same group or related group to the attackers. so that is just an intelligence lead that will be critically point for them to have other members where they get the explosives and all of tha terms of additional attacks. we should point out here that we've already gotten

place close to a central brussels metro station that has been sealed off by police on tuesday, a journalist appears to be the work of the police bomb squad, a report of a controlled explosion, not far from the station. could those be the abandoned devices that you may be talking about? >> they could be, which will little the amount of sort of intelligence that data they'll get from it. they'll be able to do explosive testing even on abandon devices and understanding what the agent wasful you'll be able to compare that to intelligence and information gathered at the sites of paris attacks and still be an important piece of information for them. >> all right we thank you very much for joining us this morning this of course is a breaking story. the details are changing on the fly. we'll keep you up to date

we want to pause while we bring in our stations across the country. our special report will continue in just a moment. . this is a cbs news special report. we begin with breaking news gayle king, anthony mason here, charlie rose is off two bombings hit the international airport, authorities have evacuated the terminals this sent people running through the terminal. on the scene there at the airport. >> this is a very chaotic and unfolding situation, another