we are just getting this report from pete williams, michael. first of all, the names of the suspected and some updates on their ages. dzhokhar born in 1993 identified by the fbi as wearing the white hat. he does have confirming a massachusetts license. a resident of cambridge and we are told now he was born in kyrgyzstan. his brother's age is 26 and born in russia and became a permanent legal residents in 2007. also pete williams reporting we are told the brothers came with their family to the united states in either 2002 or 2003. very fresh information. no reason to draw any conclusions from just this. just more pieces of the puzzle that we will slowly pull together. the bigger issue now is the manhunt under wail and the safety of the people in the boston and watertown area. having that said, michael, given your experience and without going too far, let's look at what has happened. let's look at what they reportedly have done to attack in the way they did, the boston marathon. an international event. iconic american event. the oldest marathon

when you looked at the surveillance video, when you hear what pete williams is reporting about their backgrounds, what leaps to mind? what do you think we can ascertain from those facts? >> these guys had a plan. when i saw the video, seemed like they knew what they were doing. they were moving with a purpose. they were calm. it eerily reminded me of the mumbai attacks. you can't tell too much from the brief videotape that we saw that was released to the public but it appeared they were calm and moving with a purpose. >> we now have a name and putting together a bit of a background. at least one of them was a legal permanent resident who had a massachusetts driver's license. there is a long and sad history of strife in chechnya and acts of terrorism. >> you have to look at that original of terrorism. this is where we can't jump to conclusions yet. we're going to be relying on our foreign intelligence partners in russia and turkey because it was believed these men lived in turkey. we want to find out do they come from a lineage of terrorists. do they have military training. we'll try

but i don't know. >> pete williams in d.c., thanks so much for that. >>> we heard from pete williams officials have one person in custody and there may be a second person who is a dead and there may be a third person at large. we don't want to use the term suspect inaccurately. as pete noted, there's some kind of ongoing threat in the area. this all began last night when witnesses reported hearing a number of explosions in watertown, massachusetts, at least three explosions, we heard that from a number of different witnesses. we also heard reports of firefights. one eyewitness telling us that there were too many gun shots to count. reports of evacuations of residents as that began to unfold. we heard from an eyewitness who saw the whole thing from his apartment. he said that it went on for quite some time and he saw a pressure cooker and hand grenade being thrown on the street. as these events have progressed, reporting has revealed that it's increasingly likely that in fact these suspects are in some way connected to the boston marathon bombings, there were a number of factors that'

pete williams live in d.c. we should note, we've been covering this story all night, since it started at 11:00 at night. we were uncertain throughout the night whether any of these events were linked. it started with reports of a shooting at m.i.t. then it turned to the violence that was taking place at watertown. then while all of this was taking place, we were hearing reports of a carjacking. we were hearing reports of a robbery at a 7-eleven. we didn't know if any of this was related. we didn't know if any of this was related to the boston marathon bombing. throughout the night, we've been trying to ascertain what was what. we wanted to make sure we were very responsible in our reporting and not jump to any conclusions that we didn't have evidence to support. at this time, here's what we can now reasonably conclude. law enforcement officials believe that this all began last night when those two suspects in the boston marathon bombing, the men they released photos of on thursday, those two men you're seeing o

it's been a lot of pete williams all morning. i have more pete williams. he reports officials think they know where this suspect in the white hat is holed up. they think they have located him. he also says that there may be a third person of interest in this now. there is definitely something going on boston right now. some outlets report that they smell smoke in the area. cnn just had a reporter on the scene and was reporting from where there is a lot of police activity and a police officer came up and told her to get out of the area and they are trying to reestablish a shot and police are sort of swarming around that cameraman. something is going on right now. i am not sure what it is. we will you know. >> is this the same office apartment complex? >> this is a different complex than the one they were looking at earlier. >> chris, you know, i was seeing something, but i haven't been able to watch. are there any videos on youtube of these guys? i had seen something of twitter. does that provide any clues of who these guys are? >> yes. there is actually ha

you've been in touch with pete williams. what are you hearing regarding solid leads now in this case? >> well, first of all, significant progress has been made. they have identified from this video at the lord and taylor building which is right by the second bomb site, a couple hundred yards from where i am now, an image of an individual who drops a black bag that could well have been used, and they may believe have been used for the bombing. but it's unclear. there is no confirmation of arrest, first of all. that's the first thing we have to say. the image may show somebody who they are seeking to find. in other words, seeking to find someone in that video but it is not clear they know exactly who that is. and it is not -- and it certainly is not clear that they have found that person yet. so they've got significant progress from yesterday. this is an answer from where we with were. and it also used enhanced video from the local nbc affiliate that provided the image that we all saw this morning of a black bag, trash bag, th

we have a note for pete williams. two sources tell nbc news that two people have video of a person placing a black bag down. one confirm authorities have video of several individuals including this one person who they are interested in questioning. these have been described to nbc has solid leads. looking for him to question. this is what we are getting at nbc news from law enforcement officials. not about an arrest. not about an identified suspect per say. but that they have leads based on the video surveillance cameras that they have had access to. >> we know this. a security camera is the camera which has captured much of the video that law enforcement officials are using in their investigation. that is from google maps and that is the camera on the corner of the lord and taylor. nbc news investigative producer on this. bob, maybe you can answer a fundamental question from our viewers. >>> it is the hallmark of this investigation. and he is said to one of the things that we have to be assured of is that we are gett

i want to go to pete williams in washington, d.c. pete, what can you tell us about what's happening here this evening? >> el with, i think there's ample reason to think what we're seeing h ining here is connecte boston marathon bombing. number one, we know that the fbi was very interested in this part of massachusetts based on the initial information they had gathered and some of the tips they had received. this is not that coincidence. there was a great deal of interest beyond the mere fact that this suburb is near -- in the same state of massachusetts and not far from boston. so that's the first thing. secondly, we have seen and we're not reporting the names yet. but we have seen the names of the two people that we believe have been arrested there. one of them was a name that the fbi was very interested in tracing down based on a couple of factors, including the fact that the fbi had received a number of tips based on people looking at the pictures saying that one of the suspects looked very much like this person. so it was a name

the latest we have out here, pete williams, nbc news. haes be he has been right on this one all along. the investigators believe they know where suspect number two is hold up here in watertown. police helicopter flying over the city. now, it is just frozen in the air. it is stationary i would guess maybe a mile from where i'm standing here with all the gathered media from around the world. police keeping us in this spot. no one being allowed to go into watertown. the entire mass transit system in boston is shout down. they did not want suspect number two to escape. suspect number one was shot and killed overnight. there is a report that he had explosives strapped to him. they had certainly thrown explosives at officers as they chased that mercedes suv that they had car jacked. the concern is that suspect number two may have explosives strapped to him, sefrcertainly available to him. knowing where he is is one thing. figuring out how to get him out without someone else in the neighborhood or area being injured or killed would be another.

thanks also to pete williams and kristin welker as well. again, we are waiting on jay carney to take the podium there to answer some questions about that suspicious letter. he will undoubtedly also be talking about the latest on the investigation to the boston bombings and the suspicious package that's being investig e investigated? senator shelby's office. that wraps things up for me. "now with alex wagner" is up next. what do you have. >>> we're following the breaking news regards the suspicious letter and awaiting for press secretary jay carney to take the podium. the search forrens as continues meanwhile, in boston with new details about the construction of the two bombs. mike at leiter will join us to discuss. plus behind the explosion of home-grown extremist groups. we'll talk about a new report on so-called patriot groups. >>> in the aftermath of boston, what is the future for reform efforts on guns and immigration. luke russert and bob herbert join the panel. all that and more, coming up next. and do you know your... blood type? a o

justice correspondent pete williams has more for us. >> reporter: investigators say they've been told that while the bombing suspects were fleeing from boston in an suv they carjacked last thursday night they came up with the idea of driving to new york, taking along a half dozen bombs they had with them. >> in the car they made a decision to go to new york with the remaining explosive devices that they had and to detonate it -- detonate one or more in times square. >> reporter: police say one of the men, dzhokhar tsarnaev, had visited times square at least once last year. whatever plans they had came to nothing thursday night when police caught up with them in watertown. this photo shows that suv after the shootout with police. now new questions about whether the interrogation of the surviving suspect was stopped too soon. the chairman of the house intelligence committee has been told that a judge came to the hospital to read dzhokhar his rights before interrogators were done questioning him. >> that's dangerous and concerning especially when the fbi will tell you we weren't finished

nbc news justice correspondent pete williams begins our coverage. >> reporter: investigators say they've been told that while the bombing suspects were fleeing from boston in an suv they carjacked last thursday night, they came up with the idea of driving to new york, taking along a half dozen bombs they had with them. >> in the car, they made a decision to go to new york with the remaining explosive devices that they had and to detonate one or more in times square. >> reporter: one of the men, dzhokhar tsarnaev, had visited times square at least once last year. whatever plans they had came to nothing thursday night when police caught up with them in watertown. this photo shows that suv after the shootout with police. now new questions about whether the interrogation of the surviving suspect was stopped too soon. the chairman of the house intelligence committee says he's been told that a judge came to the hospital to read dzhokhar tsarnaev his rights before interrogators were done questioning him. >> that's really dangerous and concerning, especially when the fbi will tell you, we weren'

pete williams is still with us. and there seems to be a key period in his life, six months when he went back to russia. his father says that he went to visit him, but i guess the key question is, was it at that point that he somehow was radicalized? >> well, that's a -- that's one question. and the second question is, where did these -- where did this expertise really you have to say with explosives come from. i mean, these two -- if you think about it, it's -- yes, the design of the devices was sort of basically out of the, you know, anarchist cookbook or right off the internet of how to make a bomb in a pressure cooker. it's unfortunately very sadly on the internet. but it's still difficult to make it work. and you add to that the fact that they managed to set off two bombs with some apparently sophistication in how they were detonated, whether they were by a timer or remote control. that certainly you assume is not something that you could do if you were just trying to build a bomb for the very first time. in mos

pete williams, you have something new? >> well, yes. several law enforcement officials confirmed he's alive, in custody. unbelievable, as one said who's been following this. the next question is what sort of condition is he in. is he gravely wounded, walking? we don't know. we are trying to find out now. >> a big night in watertown, mass. i will tell you, what a 24 hours those people have endured. these are just citizens of a town in eastern mass. this was visited upon them after they witnessed the horrible bombing at the finish line of the boston marathon. there is your suspect, in custody and alive. we believe he survived one or more bullet wounds last night in a hail of gunfire. lester holt is at street level, as we have seen. across from the town diner in this town that can now start to breathe and live a little bit. lester? >> we heard 30 seconds of sustained applause from the crowd when word got out that he was in custody. these folks have lived through hell with the shots and explosions. i'm with rita who lives in the neighborhoo

you heard pete williams. in an investigation, they see a picture, they want to talk to obviously anyone who might be seen putting down a package. that doesn't mean a person is a suspect, but certain -- >> when pete was given the description, it reminded me of the times that you and i, a lot of americans buy those 1,000 or 5,000-piece puzzle. magnify that by a million. they have more pictures or videos that you can imagine, but they'll do it in a me tick las incremental way just as they're picking up pieces of evidence on the scene, they'll do the same thing with the picture puzzle from all the video undoubtedly they received. it's a good and appropriate investigative technique. >> you know what goes on in a situation like this. obviously we have a suspect or suspects at large, who produced a terror attack and killed people. so there is a real impetus to get answers, a political impetus obviously there's pressure to get answers, but at the same time the worst thing would be to go after the wrong people. what's

this is just coming from pete williams of nbc news. last night, police in watertown, massachusetts, got into a shootout with both suspects. they ever both brothers from chechnya. you might recall the surveillance photos. the one in the black cap, 26-year-old sam german tsarnaev, ted not only of a gunshot wounds but shrapnel wounds and thermal wounds indicating he might have been hurt by an explosive device. the brothers did reportedly throw at least one bomb during a shootout with police. the suspect in the white cap, he is 19-year-old dzhokhar tsarnaev. he is the one that we are still looking for. he told the "associated press" that he was an angel. police ask asked you to shelter in place and not open the door unless it is police. we will have more updates in two minutes. hey! did you know that honey nut cheerios has oats that can help lower cholesterol? and it tastes good? sure does! ♪ wow. [ buzz ] delicious, right? yeah. it's the honey, it makes it taste so... ♪ well, would you look at the time... what's the rush? bee happy. b

according to pete williams and court documents. there has been a legal procedure in the hospital room, obviously, the defendant has agreed to an order of voluntary detention without prejudice. the defendant declined to answer bail questions in a probable cause hearing may 30th at 10:00 a.m. the court is satisfied the defendant is alert and able to respond to the charges. the defendant is remanded to the custody of fbi agents and was presented to u.s. marshals. he was advised of his rights and the charges against him. the government states the maximum penalties and is moved to detention. and there is a charge of using a weapon of mass destruction, the bomb, and that would include a possible death penalty phase if it were to come to that. although massachusetts does not have the death penalty. this is a federal case. david rode joins me now. he is the author of a pulitzer prize winner and the author of beyond warning reimagining american influence. we want to talk to you about your experience. you were held, you were kidnapped by the

before we go to pete williams, one question for richard engel. by the fact you have been around so many weapons and fire fights over the past ten years of your life. if you have been around any weapons, listening to the audio you can almost tell which ones are the .9mm reports and which one are the versions of the m-4 rifle. since the good guys had had, let's assume, laser sights, night vision, but also these good guys are not used to active connective fire fights. i'm surprised it didn't end with two dead suspects. >> i'm surprised it didn't end right there with that much gunfire. clearly there was a lot going down. you saw that one high velocity round that wednesday through the wall and soon in the reporter's calendar on the wall. how the other brother wasn't hit and wasn't killed in the scene is very remarkable. but if he was going fast and there was lots of cars in the way and it was nighttime, somebody missed him. >> nobody is finding fault. goodness knows it's the fog of war in an suburban environment. as promised to d.c. we go and pete wil

pete williams has reported now that his brother, his own brother in fleeing in that mercedes suv ran over his own brother. eventually that suspect died at the hospital. but we can't overstate how remarkable it's been this morning, chuck, that there is a lockdown of a major american city. a shelter in place, as it is known. this is the kind of thing you hear about when there's chemical leaks or huge gas explosions. people stay inside for their own health and well being. we talked to police chief john timany who headed up the police departments in philadelphia and we talked to michael chertoff this morning and neither of them could remember a situation, not only where this has happened but where it is considered to shut down and ask all residents of a major american city to go inside. they talked about it during 9/11, but decided against it. you have people in a middle class town seeing s.w.a.t teams out their window. a no-fly zone over a small town in the western suburbs of boston. it is unprecedented. >> it's unbelievable there, willie. thank you. >>> want to bring in roger, a long-t

pete williams has been working the story from his end in washington as well, pete? >> reporter: something to think about here, brian as we watch this unfold, there's a belief that in the encounter, that he was wounded. he was driving the car that they carjacked in which he and his brother fled from cambridge to watertown, when it was stopped by police, there were like 200 rounds, they said, were fired back and forth between the men and police there. he managed to get away in the car. his brother got out and was killed. but he managed to get away and abandoned the car a short time later. looking at the car, and looking at the scene around the car and where they think he went. they said there was blood, so they believed he was wounded. how serious it is of course they don't know. that is something to bare in mind here. >> 200 rounds, some of the rounds i saw still pictures of and on television. ranged from, there were some 9 milimeter and some larger to the caliber of the police assault style weapon. a whole lot of rounds, even in a war zone, saying nothing of a resid

nbc news justice correspondent pete williams is standing by. i am just reading information that you put in regarding the components of this bomb and what authorities believe was used to make the explosives. what can you tell me? >> they say they were crudely made. that doesn't mean that they weren't powerful and they were. they were made with gunpowder, bbs and ball bearings packed inside a pressure cooker. let me point to a picture from a homeland security bulletin. we're going to get in real tight on these little pots down here. this is what pressure cookers look like. give it a second to focus and see how much tighter we can get. these are what pressure cookers look like in case you haven't seen them. these are rather inexpensive pressure cookers. in case you've not ever dealt with one. a pot with a cover on it that you can make basically air tight and food cooks faster. and then for at least a decade, they've been used to make bombs around the world. so inside is the explosive and the authorities believe it is gunpowder or smokeless powder.

let's turn to pete williams. >> i think a couple things here. he says -- the two bombers are that's the relationship there. he says they came in early 2003 heard this morning that the family received asylum. and then you may recall that later this morning, the father in russia, and the uncle just said that his brother did go back to russia, so that explains that. you just said something about whether he didn't know if they'd traveled. and that reminds me that undoubtedly right now federal authorities are checking their travel records, these two young men, to see if they ever did go overseas to any kind of terror training camp, because we had heard that they had military experience. that was the initial assessment we had heard from several sources this morning. well, if they came here a decade ago and the one they're looking for still is only 19 years old, obviously he didn't have any military experience at the age of 9 before he came here. and the brother is 26, so i suppose it's possible that he might have had a

pete williams nbc's justice correspondent is on the line as well. i'm sorry, i said there were two confirmed dead, it's three confirmed dead in the incident now. bill keithing is joining us with and reporters there on scene today. the bottom line is 113 wounded by blasts, at least three people killed. and in boston today, as you know today is the boston marathon, and the boston marathon is held on a state holiday in massachusetts only that's called patriot's day. and that always makes today a different kind of day than the rest of the year. but driving through boston tonight to get here to get to mass general, it's eerie. it's eerie in boston tonight that even with all of the security response that we've got right now, there's just nobody out. and obviously people are doing that and staying at home in order to respect the wishes of law enforcement authorities who are telling people essentially to stay out of the way while the investigation continues. as we get further details on the investigation, boston is left to confront the fact that with everyt

pete williams, the big question at this moment, was there a foreign connection to terrorism? what do we know? >> well, we don't know the answer to that question. the big gap here is what was the older brother doing in russia for six months last year? he leaves in january, arrives in july, and the russians have told the fbi that they were a little worried about him. but what was he doing during all that time in russia? his father says he was visiting him, that he went to see his family, went to renew his russian passport while he was awaiting american citizenship. he was here as a lawful permanent resident. did he -- the thing i think that's the biggest question for investigators now is, "a," why did he turn this way? but, "b," where did he get his expertise in explosives? where did he practice them? it seems really unlikely these two bombs successfully were detonated without some practice runs. where did he learn to do that? where did he practice? those are the big questions. >> we look at the pictures of the suspects and biographical information we have, dzhokhar, who is the

host: "national journal" reporting the headline, "pete williams' reporting philosophy d y was g boon sighttory r guest: i would have to say that pete williams is the best i have ever come across, so measured and sofer. is amazing he was able to be showcased the way he was. this was a complicated story. a lot of journalists for getting the facts wrong as it was developing in real time, but pete williams was a constant force who was right 100% of the way. it is a model to all of us, people who were starting to this profession. host: the essence of the story is not jumping ahead of the story. on monday, some news organizations saying that dozens of people were killed. that was not the case, three weled.re kil the on-line sleuths pinpointed the wrong individuals before the fbi released those two photographs. guest: it is always important to realize and people get carried away in the heat of the moment, we have to be incredibly careful what we are saying on tv and in the press, that it really matters. imagine how people were trying to be on line sleuths. that seemed to trigger the fbi and

pete williams, thanks. mike, we now have joining us from springfield, missouri, former attorney general john ashcroft. sir, thanks very much for being on the show this morning from your perspective with your experience and your background on all of this, what are we looking for at this point and what concerns you that still remains a mystery? >> well, the first priority here has to be public safety and to guard against any future attacks or follow-on attacks. unfortunately all of us are aware that we're in a critical period of time right now. this week has been not only this week but historically a very difficult time including oak bomb and with the fertilizer explosion last night that we don't know all of the facts about and with the boston situation this is a time when i think we shouldn't rush to any conclusions about whether any events are related or they're not related. and public safety and prevention of additional events ought to be at the top of our understanding. obviously it should also inform the

we will not report it until pete williams says it is okay. >> right. i talked to staffers at both nbc, and msnbc. and what they said is the word right now is if pete okays it we can go with it, if he doesn't okay it, we don't go with it. a staffer went up to pete williams and said you are trending -- this was earlier -- he said you are trending on twitter. he said i don't want to be trending on anything. it is somewhat telling that the guy who is associated with the best reporting last week did not tweet once last week. that's somewhat telling, unless maybe he tweeted late friday -- that's -- believe me i tweet like a thousand times a day. i love twitter, it is a great source for information, but there is something telling about that. he didn't spend the time participating in the noise. he spent the time doing his job. >> bill: not to beat up on cnn, but jeff zucker comes to cnn, and we're talking about the revamping of cnn, and get it right this time, and it could not have happened at a worse time for cnn,. would you agree? >> yes and there is another

i'll be joined by tom cost tello, pete williams and a number of experts. we'll play back the president's remarks a few hours ago. plus, we'll be joined by a father at the marathon honoring his son who was killed in iraq and why this photo of him has captured the hearts of so many. all coming up next. [ chainsaw buzzing ] humans. sometimes, life trips us up. sometimes, we trip ourselves up. and although the mistakes may seem to just keep coming at you, so do the solutions. like multi-policy discounts from liberty mutual insurance. save up to 10% just for combining your auto and home insurance. call liberty mutual insurance at... to speak with an insurance expert and ask about all the personalized savings available for when you get married, move into a new house, or add a car to your policy. personalized coverage and savings -- all the things humans need to make our world a little less imperfect. call... and ask about all the ways you could save. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? prego?! but i've been buying ragu for years. [ th

nbc's pete williams has the latest on this case. >> reporter: as dzhokhar tsarnaev lies under guard at a boston hospital now upgraded to fair condition, federal officials say he's told interrogators he and his older brother came up with the plot on their own because they believed the u.s. wars in iraq and afghanistan were an attack on islam. officials say he claims the instructions for making a bomb came from al qaeda's online magazine "inspire" which contained a formula that was similar to make the bombs in boston. an employee at a fireworks company says that records show tamerlan tsarnaev bought fireworks at a store in new hampshire in february. >> it's a little disturbing and unsettling that i had any interaction with him. he was an everyday customer, so i dealt with him the way i would any other customer off the street. >> reporter: several online instructions including the one in "inspire" recommended using the contents of fireworks as a bomb component. 5,000 miles away, fbi agents were in the russian province of dagostan to interview the parents. the mother insists her sons could

joining us massachusetts governor deval patrick, nbc's justice correspondent pete williams, chairman of the house intelligence committee mike rogers of michigan, former homeland security secretary michael chertoff, former director of the national counterterrorism center michael l liter. then, how the marathon bombings changed things after such painful loss. >> anybody that knew her loved her. >> there were powerful signs of resilience. alongside a renewed sense of vulnerability as a manhunt virtually shut down a major american city. we hear from assistant senate majority leader dick durbin of illinois, and our special roundtable. >>> and good sunday morning. what a week it has been. developments are still moving very quickly in the boston terror story. we want to go for the very latest this morning to the governor of massachusetts, deval patrick, who is with us this morning from boston. it's good to see you and congratulations on the end of a very difficult week. >> well, i accept your congratulations on behalf of the extraordinary team of law enforcement folks who have done this the

pete williams in our washington bureau. pete, it probably bears repeating at this point while people may be seeing other aspects of security at their local airport train station, no reason to think this is anything beyond the boylston street bombings that we saw in boston. >> reporter: that's right. according to the officials i have talked to tonight, brian. of course they are still trying to figure out precisely what it was that happened in boston. we know that there were two bombs, but they are still saying there might have been others planted along the route of the marathon. packages found on the street were deemed suspicious and were being destroyed tonight. we still have not heard any firm confirmation of whether at least the five other packages actually were explosive devices, although some officials say there is reason to think they were. there is no suspect in custody. but people are very interested in questioning a young person with a student visa who has burns and was seen by witnesses running fromar. suspes are f

the prior -- conversation with pete williams was especially interesting. here's a little more of what we know. pete reported on part of this earlier. the 7-eleven robbery takes place a few blocks on the north street and cambridge where the two brothers lived. robbed the 7-eleven. they then shoot the m.i.t. campus police officer, who is in his car. the reasoning we're told is he, they probably thought that the police officer recognized them from their photographs being published everywhere and up on the tv screens everywhere and hours earlier by the fbi in the afternoon. they carjack an individual who is driving a mercedes suv. authorities know who the individual is. the news media know who the individual is. we know his name. we're not going to report his name, obviously. he has been fully debriefed. and is really part of a really interesting equation to this whole awful, awful story. in that they hijacked the car. they take his credit card. and they make three different attempts with his credit card to withdraw money from atm machines. the first one faile

this is also a point pete williams made earlier. in effect, you could learn of a lot of precautions being taken, especially in major east coast cities. it does not mean they're happening as a result of any additional threats. and, chuck, we can't point that out often enough. >> reporter: well, and, brian, i had a security official tell me that had there been warnings in advance, that you would have had a different style of security at the boston -- yes, there was plenty of security, because it's a major event going on on a big day in boston. but there wasn't the type of early warnings you would have seen a difference in the style of security that boston would have been going through had they had some sort of advanced warning or threat had come in. >> chuck todd at the white house. thanks. i mentioned boston mayor tom menino earlier. you perhaps heard governor patrick say that he started his day by visiting the boston mayor in his hospital room. well, there turned out to be no keeping mayor menino down. even though he was in the hosp

as pete williams points out, there are many cautions now. because once these pictures are in the public domain, there will be more fits and starts and numerous false alarms. thatst the nature of the business. but for now, the fbi has told us there are two suspects. suspect one and suspect two. both of them young males, approximately, appearing to be the same age. one wearing a white baseball cap. we have them actually reverse there. that suspect two on the left with the white hat. suspect one on the right, a v-neck white t-shirt, raincoat. what they have in common. both carrying substantially sized backpacks, though, in fairness, no larger than many of the parcels we've seen people carry at public events and no larger than many of the backpacks than adjacent in the photography. now the dissemination is underway on people's personal devices, on television, and on broadcasts like "nbc nightly news." we'll be along with that as we get later into the evening, about an hour from now on the east coast. for our team from boston to washington, i'm b

pete williams is reporting there is a foyer sapphiris a is fire . there is a fire in a boat in the backyard of a home in cambridge. you see there on the screen. that is the boat. that boat where suspect number two in the boston marathon bombings is believed to be pinned down and trapped at the moment. dzhokar tsarnaev. he and his brother, it appears, we believe, a shootout with the police in the wee hours of the morning. and last night. that resulted in the death of his older brother, 26-year-old tamerlan tsarnaev. dzhokar appears to be in the boat in the back of that house. now that boat is on fire. there is tremendous amount of police presence. that convergent intensified in just the last hour in the wake of a police press conference lifting the request for people to stay inside and just a little bit after that, a rush of police into the area and an explosion of gunfire. joining us on the phone is rebecca kraeger. he backyard looks into the yard where everything is happening. rebecca with, can you tell me what you're seeing? >> right now i'm seein

and pete williams saying there has been though arrest made. the fbi coming out and confirming that. we've got video of somebody setting down a bag, but no idea. they also have what they call solid leads, but no arrests. that's what we stand as we hit 3:00 p.m. eastern time. >> we'll continue to follow it on cnbc. thank you very much for watching "street signs." >>> and we do welcome you to this edition of the "closing bell," a back and forth day of epic proportions for the markets and the news. i'm bill griffeth here at cnbc headquarters. >> and i'm michelle crusoe down here at the new york stock exchange, bill. let's go through what we know at this hour, one hour before the close. the news related to the boston bombings, certainly moving the markets back and forth today. here's what we know definitively. video shows is someone setting down a bag near the bomb location. authorities have told nbc news there are solid leads, but no arrest has been made yet. we've heard that now from numerous sources, including the fbi. no one has been specifically identified. we are waiting, however,

>> pete williams in washington again for us tonight. pete, thanks. >>> in cambridge today, a sea of law enforcement, what seemed like the entire m.i.t. community and a whole lot of bostonians. they all came together to attend a moving memorial ceremony for the m.i.t. police officer killed thursday night as the alleged marathon bombers went on their last rampage. our report tonight from nbc's katy tur. >> reporter: a sea of 15,000 blue caps. family, friends, officers and strangers came to celebrate the life of fallen m.i.t. officer sean collier. >> he would love this. sirens, flashing lights, formations, people saluting. he was born to be a police officer. he lived out his dreams. >> reporter: collier was only 27 when he crossed paths with the accused marathon bombers. >> we have suffered. we are grieving. >> reporter: today vice president biden couldn't seem to contain his anger. >> whether it's al qaeda central out of the fattah or two twisted, perverted, cowardly knock-off jihadis here in boston, why do they do what they do? if the pu

our justice correspondent pete williams has been following the investigation all day. he's in our d.c. newsroom tonight. pete, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. the fbi is pursuing very promising leads. one in particular tonight thanks to the abundance of pictures and videos rounded up in the two days since the bombing. we are getting a close-up look at how the bombs were made. >> guys, guys, guys. no way. >> reporter: the fbi says it is getting exactly what it asked for. pictures from several sources showing someone carrying a heavy backpack or duffel bag and placing it at the spot where one bomb went off. one of the most promising images, they say, comes from a department store surveillance camera high up on a building, able to look down at the crowd. on a day when incorrect news reports of an arrest distracted officials, investigators were working aggressively to discover, find, and interview that person. that's at the scene of the second bombing following the first by about 15 seconds. it's that second spot shown on this picture sent to nbc station wh

so pete williams is correct in saying that this is all over the map right now. the one thing that appears to be clear is that either video or still pictures or a combination of both have led law enforcement officials to at least zero in on someone. had this just into us. investigators have obtained vud owe of a person placing a black bag down near the scene of the blast. the footage came from the department store's camera. this is information we have already reported. video or stills that will give them imagery and give them at least the first road to go down when going down through the streets of boston and looking for who to pick up. various media accounts right now as to whether or not someone is in custody. someone is fully under arrest. we will leave the air now and we will hop back on the air. we learn anything different or receive any official confirmation. so for now for our team, we'll remain in place. i'm brian williams, nbc news, new york. >>> that breaking news, a new development in the boston marathon bombing. in case you are just joining us right n

i'm mother. >> that was nbc's pete williams reporting. >>> charges against the mississippi man accused of sending ricin-laced letters to president obama and senator wicker has been dropped. investigators are looking at the home of a new suspect. tracie potts has the latest. >> reporter: good morning. dropped apparently for lack of evidence. they searched the suspect's home and found no traces, no evidence at all of ricin, this after paul kevin curtis spent one week behind bars. the mississippi man accused of sending those letters to senator wicker, to president obama and to a mississippi judge. but after being released he spoke with his attorney and said that he's looking forward to getting back to normal. here's more of what he said. >> i respect president obama, i love my country and would never do anything to pose a threat to him or any other u.s. official. >> reporter: now authorities are looking at the home of another mississippi man, another man from tupelo who says he's also innocent. he doesn't even know how to make ricin, but they're looking into his home. interestingly the tw

>> pete williams in our d.c. newsroom tonight. pete, thank you. >>> another big story we are following tonight. the u.s. intelligence community now believes chemical weapons have been used in syria. president obama has previously said that would be crossing a red line for the assad regime. our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski is traveling with defense secretary hagel in the middle east where he learned more about this today. >> reporter: after two years of syria's bloody civil war, the obama administration inched ever so slightly today toward u.s. military intervention. secretary hagel speaking for the white house accusing syria of using chemical weapons. >> the u.s. intelligence community assesses with some degree of varying confidence that the syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in syria. >> reporter: it's believed traces of sarin were found in blood samples taken from victims of an attack last month in aleppo. president obama has warned syria's use of chemical weapons would be what he's called a game

let's go to pete williams, our justice correspondent. good morning to you again. >> we know a little more now. we believe about these two. as we've been saying they're brothers. the first one who they are still seeking this morning, the one wearing the white hat, the one that they believe planted the second bomb, his name is dzhokar tsarnaev. he's the one who is 19 years old. we're told that his brother, the one, who died is 26. became a legal permanent resident in 2007 and was born in russia. we're told that they both came to the country with their number in 2002 or 2003. they've been in the u.s. for nearly ten years it would appear. we're certainly very familiar with the united states and certainly comfortable moving around here. you may remember when the police chased them into watertown, they stopped the suv that they carjacked. the older one wearing the black hat at the photographs in the boston marathon was strapped with explosives and police shot and killed him and i'm told by authorities now that when dzhokar, who is the one they

in the entire williams family. >> on a serious note, pete williams did do a fantastic job. >> will i am may have done well, too. >> steve colbert is thanking canadians after they thwarted a train attacks on trains in canada. take a look. >>> the royal canadian police or mountties have thwarted an al qaeda-enspiefrd terrorist attack, with i is quite a feat considering how hard it is for them to go undercover. so, folks, i would just like to say a word to our friend up north, you canadians are a brave and heroic people. if i have said it once, this is the one time i said it. >> he did update their uniforms, those mountties. >> the bearded mounted police. >> i don't know how they do it. >> it's iconic. >>> now, the moment we have all been waiting for, twitter's most infamous twitter makes a return, former new york congressman anthony weiner sent his first message from a new account yesterday, just about two years after the twitter crotch shot photos forced him to step down. >> what did he say? >> he sent out links to keep new york the capital of the middle clas. >> nap time. >> weiner i

let's go to pete williams in washington. pete, you got anything? >> we are told that there is a fire now in the boat. don't know how big it is. could be the combination of incendiary devices and fuel in the boat or it could be the person in the boat set the fire himself. there is a fire on the boat. we don't know how big it is. >> well, that makes things confusing and interesting. we have seen no flurry of activity at the street level. depending on what kind of fire it is they have equipment on the s.w.a.t. trucks that are assembled. i saw a picture on a boston station that lays out the scene of just an entire line of s.w.a.t. team members taking a knee in front of the house. a lot of the vehicles are parked at the house itself. we keep looking at the cambridge bomb squad. they are parked well out of the perimeter. when it was clear they weren't needed at the scene. resetting, 8:13 p.m. just joining us, we have had two incidents of gunfire tonight. 30 minutes after the folks in watertown, mass. after a take cover order all day were told, you know w

pete williams, nbc news, washington. >>> at the white house today, president obama announced a major research project to unlock the mysteries of the human brain. the $100 million initiative would fund pure scientific research and produce leads toward treating brain disorders from autism and strokes to alzheimer's. scientists say they welcome the chance to spend money on research at a time when science budgets are getting squeezed. but it's not clear whether congress will actually approve this spending. >>> the state attorney general in arkansas is now investigating the break of an exxon mobil pipeline that sent thousands of gallons of crude oil flowing down the street into a residential neighborhood over easter weekend. the leak is bringing a lot of attention to our national network of pipelines, and re-igniting debate over another notable pipeline project. our report tonight from our chief environmental affairs correspondent anne thompson. >> reporter: from the air, it looks like a dark stain on this neighborhood. 20 miles north of little rock. >> the smell is unbelievable. i mean,

our justice correspondent pete williams has been working this story all day. pete, what can you tell us tonight? >> tonight authorities confirm that there were two bombs. we know that much. but it's unclear how many others were planted. they say there were other suspicious packages. and the word, of course, of another bomb elsewhere placed at the jfk library is apparently turning out not to be true. at least five other packages have been found on the street, have been deemed suspicious and are being destroyed. but there is no firm confirmation of whether they were actually explosive devices although some officials tonight say there is reason to think that some of them were. we are told, by the way, that one of the two victims killed in the explosion was 8 years old. boston police say there was no specific intelligence warning of any kind of attack. federal officials tonight say there is no reason to think that this is part of any larger threat. at this point they believe it is confined to boston. but a meeting tonight will decide whether any kind of national a

pete williams will join us with the latest on this story. but first, while we may not know anything about who attacked the boston marathon yesterday or why, just over 24 hours after the explosion, there is a lot of new information tonight about the devices used in the attack. about to exekt from the investigation. there were two explosive devices which exploded yesterday. no more along the route or city of boston. the devices appear to have consists of explosive and shrapnel put into pressure cookers. they have recovered black nylon bags at the sights of both devices. they are believed to have been used to transport the devices to the scene. what happens next is that every single fragment of bomb material recovered from those sites will be sent to an fbi land in quantico, virginia, where they can be analyzed by the fbi and atf experts and even checked for dna. investigators have launched a major push to seek information from the public, including tips on suspicious behavior and photo and video taken around the race. >> the person who did thi