ron allen's mugshot was taken when allen was in his stocking feet. with shoes, allen would stand 5'4" inches. ron allen voluntarily agreed to take a polygraph test. >> did you have anything to do with what happened? >> no. >> he failed. at this point, police needed to make sure that ron allen was the man in the security videotape. >> one of the things that we have encountered time and time again, is you have a small business owner and certainly they have limited resources and they feel that they get some kind of protection by having a video camera setup, security camera set up at their business and certainly that should work as a deterrent to some criminals. but when someone commits a crime anyway, if you have cheap or substandard equipment, it's not going to be much help to law enforcement. >> once processed and transferred, investigators got a little better look at the killer. but would it be good enough? ♪ carpenters: "rainy days and mondays" ♪ ♪ ♪ ac/dc: "back in black" ♪ ♪ chevy colorado. when you find new roads, you win motor trend'

i want to go live to nbc's ron allen, who is in paris. ron, i know that you've been working your sources. you've been listening to this as well. what can you tell us? >> reporter: again, betty, this is a very rapidly-evolving situation that just started within the past hour. there's every indication that police believe and certainly acting as if they believe that the two suspects are somewhere in the vicinity of this town. there were reports earlier this morning of a carjacking and a shoot-out, hostage takings, pursuit, and now there are literally hundreds if not thousands of police officers s.w.a.t. units descending on this particular area. there are reports that "negotiations" have begun, but the extent of that we really don't know. we don't know if they have made contact with the two individuals, we don't know if the two brothers are together. just a lot at this point that we don't know but again, every indication that this might be the moment that the police and certainly everybody in this country have been hoping for. here not far fr

ron allen from paris, ron, thank you, appreciate it. we'll bring you any developments on this story as they happen on "way too early" and the next hour on "morning joe". >>> starting today, a lot easier for americans to travel to cuba than it has been for more than half a century. new rules outlined take effect today, allowing americans to travel to cuba without special permits in bringing goods like cuban cigars back home. however, regular tourism remains banned and many u.s. travelers will be required to go on supervised trips. the preapproved categories include family visits and educational activities. but americans can now use credit cards in cuba and u.s. airlines can fly there. the new rules come into effect days after cuba released all 53 of its political prisoners. >>> top republicans, they are in sunny san diego on the heels of their historic midterm wins and looking ahead to 2016. mitt romney is slated to speak this evening with top party leaders aren't jumping at his possible reentrance into the fray. politico reporting more

ron allen joins us live from paris. two things the mood there this morning, especially after this enormous unity rally that has grabbed the world's attention, and secondly, the news about the most wanted woman in the world. and the ease at which people believe, authorities say, she could have traveled into syria. >> reporter: tom, it was an extraordinary day here that began on the square where i'm standing. it's hard to convey just how many people were packed here along that two-mile route to where the march ended. times here you couldn't move because people were so packed in. calm excited. enthusiastic. not protesting -- there were no loud speeches. it was just people lending their presence to this moment and wanting to be a part of it. just a very unique gathering. now, of course the hard part begins monday morning, people trying to get back to work and kids trying to get back to school. lot of tension still hanging over this country. the muslim community feels disenfrom shiezed. the french officials here have said, t

>> well, i think everybody is, i think that was ron allen before, everybody is very, very nervous in this city. they are starting to get out to the shops again. there are more people on the streets. it probably does make people feel better that boumediene may be out of the country. the real question is whether there are other cells around, other groups. nobody expected this one to be in operation, so they just don't know what might lie in store. it is a little bit like after 9/11, if you were in new york at that time, you just didn't know what was coming next. i think that feeling still lingers. obviously, the rally tomorrow will make people feel good if it comes off without a hitch, it is a huge target. >> sure. four days ago, the kouachi brothers were unknown to you and me and everybody else. now the names, faces, the images have been broadcast around the world, along with the shooting. is this the thing we should be worried about, as far as inspiring other would-be terrorists? >> that's a very important point and it's absolutely important. just right after the kouachi brothers con

nbc's ron allen is in paris. ron, is there a sense the city is on the verge of seeing heightened tension because of "charlie hebdo's" publication? >> some 2 million new copies of the magazine are now in circulation but it's impossible to fined them in paris. people still wan this magazine. it's become such a phenomenon. there's also reports of donations coming in a magazine ott brink of bankruptcy before all this. now survival is sure solidarity freedom of express, freedom of expression. also today funerals first funerals of the several victims of the massacre last week. at the same time a crackdown on hate speech and inciting terrorism. some 50 people arrested. also tension in the schools. as many as 200 incidents reported. fights between students insults going back and forth. also people have been arrested for saying things on the internet inciting terrorism or showing support forth gunmen last week. also the investigation continues. in particular authorities are trying to check out this claim by al qaeda in th

nbc's ron allen is in paris. ron, lots of reaction to this new issue. >> good morning, francis. here is the new edition of "charlie hebdo." we're not showing you the entire magazine because it's so controversial. some viewers may find it offensive. it predicts the prophet muhammad in an unflattering light. it's satire irreverent. they call themselves irresponsible. they are trying to poke humor, trying to poke fun, trying to mock terrorists. there are a lot of jihadi cartoons mocking them. for example, a cartoon where two jihadis arrive in syria, they have college degrees. they're asked what do they do. they're told just go start cleaning the toilets. it's that sort of humor that many people might not quite get. but the point is they are trying to say that they can say anything they are all about freedom of expression, freedom of religion. this is their country, their heritage. it's also a tribute to the survivors and the victims of the attack. "charlie hebdo" saying they will continue to be what they have been going forward. this morning on the investigation there's a new video

let's bring in ron allen in paris tonight. ron, the reaction somewhat overwhelming to this measure of freedom of speech. how are the people responding this evening? >> well it was an amazing day for this phenomenon that "charlie hebdo" has become. this small magazine that sold 30,000 copies a week, you now suddenly can't get one. there are a lot of donations coming around the world. it was on the verge of bankruptcy before all of this and now it is the most popular news magazine in the world. 16 pages, a lot of satire, a lot of muhumor. some of it is very high-brow. a lot of it is about honoring the memory of the staffers the cartoonists, the others that were lost at the magazine and also stating its mission and reaffirming its mission to creating a secular society, to speaking the truth, to freedom of speech and not backing down essentially. a lot of people who said they were buying the magazine were doing it to support those values as well. i don't know how much the content of the magazine -- i'm not sure people are so drawn

all right, ron allen in paris for us thank you very much. as we have been mentioning, we are awaiting a live press conference in brussels to take place at any moment. this comes on the heels of yesterday's police raid on a suspected terror cell. here is a look at that press conference right there. as you see, the media there waiting for people to come to the podium and speak. we're waiting on the belgium federal prosecutor to take to the microphone and give us new details on what is going on in belgium following that raid. but as you know belgium police killed two islamic extremists and have taken another one alive. the men were allegedly plotting a paris style attack. but back here in the u.s. new details on how an ohio jihadist was nabbed. >> we would have never known about this had it not been for the fisa program and our ability to collect information on people who pose an imminent threat. >> nbc's tracie potts is live in washington for us this morning. the speaker's comments could really renew the debate over the nsa's reach, couldn't i

joining me from paris, nbc news's ron allen. ron, any indication at this point how successful all these police raids have been in the region? >> reporter: well alex it seems the one in belgium was very successful in stopping an attack. the authorities there said that they thought that the suspects that they raided a couple of nights ago were hours away from launching an attack -- >> unfortunately, guys i'm sure you're having the same problem i am, which is hearing ron allen right now. we'll get back to ron when we can and get that hook-up back in paris. >>> mitt romney is starting to sound like a presidential candidate again. the 2012 republican presidential nominee gave a campaign-style speech to top party officials last night. he laid out a platform for republicans to win back the white house. it all comes amid speculation ramping up that there's word of a third presidential run for the former massachusetts governor. kristen welker is following the story for us. what kind of a reception did mitt romney get? >> reporter: well,

dara back to you. >> ron allen, thank you very much for your report. we want to go to former fbi profiler clint van zandt. clint, good morning to you. we know you're a former chief hostage negotiator. as an nbc news contributor, what can you tell us about what is going on over there now? >> well what is probably happening right now is french gign that's their military terrorist team probably the equivalent of delta, you know because the french have their own s.e.a.l. team maybe a little like the fbi's hostage rescue team this is a group that i worked with as an fbi agent. they have both tactical capability and negotiations capability so they would ultimately be in charge of the scene. and, you know if you call this a criminal scene, take the terrible terrorist aspect out of it it is not too difficult to deal with. they have got -- they have got them contained in this building they have one hostage that we know of and this is the time the philosophy comes in you do three things. you contain, you isolate, and you negotiate. by contain we keep the bad guy

and outside that kosher market is nbc's ron allen to give us the latest from there. >> reporter: chris the interior minister also said that there is still an active search under way to find out if there are other people associated with these attacks, that they need to round up. you may recall over the past couple days, the authorities have said there were a number of people dozens of people, who they had under surveillance. others -- any greater number they have under constant surveillance because of the number of french nationals returning from iraq and syria after joining the jihadi causes there. so the situation is still evolving. we're in the neighborhood and things have, for the most part, returned to normal, although just a few moments ago there was a long line of police cars that came screaming through here heading toward the supermarket, which is in that direction around the corner there. unclear exactly what's happening, but the point is that things are still somewhat active here. and i think it's significant they are saying that there is still a search going on. and the other

you've had it ron allen's had it there. i'm curious about the police presence. do you see police all over paris? >> reporter: there is police everywhere. and we're hearing from our stringers, from our fixers just reports of fear everywhere. as i mentioned, you know this you be founded report of a gunman walking into the streets, there was a scare at a synagogue earlier. people are on edge. and one thing i want to point out is that the message of this rally is one of unity, one of defiance in the face of these threats, but people are both on edge and they're divided over this. one thing we talked about earlier was far right politicians being secluded from tomorrow's rally. that's causing a lot of tensions too. >> absolutely. well that rallying cry will certainly be in banners all over the place tomorrow. ronan farrow thank you so much. glad to have you live for us there in paris. >>> a surprising developing story in washington today. retired four-star general and ousted cia director david petraeus could be facing felony charges. the fbi and justice department hav

michael, i'll ask you to stand by and i'll bring back to our coverage nbc news correspondent ron allen, who joins us live from paris. ron, speaking with our colleague, bill neely, who's now in this small french countryside town, he talks about the periphery and being on lockdown but the confirmation that this is the brothers that the antiterrorism police have been looking for, but the deputy mayor saying that through the hostage negotiator that they want to die as martyrs. have you been able to speak with anybody that you know the reaction of anybody there, hearing that? because i would imagine there are people that want to see these brothers brought to justice and others that would rather see them extinguished. >> reporter: yes, and i imagine if you took a poll you'd probably find a lot of opinion on those issues. there's a lot of anger here thomas, i can tell you that. there's a lot of people who feel that this is an attack on this country. the president, francois hollande, has been speaking this morning, and he has said as much. he has said that the country's in shock. he's called t

ron allen, thank you very much. we appreciate that from the heart of paris and the 11th arrondissement. my next guest writes this week's terror attacks, that the terrorists' true goal may have been to force a backlash against france's muslim community and inspire for muslims to join their cause. you see a real strategy here. can you explain it? >> yes, these terrorist groups have a problem of repeat. most people aren't interested in becoming members of a terrorist group, especially in france where only about a third of the heritage muslims are religiously observant. there just isn't very much market for what they're selling. so their strategy -- and we have seen this elsewhere in iraq and syria -- is to strike out at another community in hopes of creating a backlash and then radicalizing the then-oppressed minority and then they can show up and say, well you're being oppressed, we can save you. >> okay. and the historical precedent for this tactic lies where? >> it's been used by militant groups all through history.

nbc's ron allen joins me from paris with the latest ron? >> reporter: jose a lot of attention on the manhunt that's focused 90 minutes north of paris. unclear yet how valid the sighting was reported there. there have been any number of sightings reported around paris and the outskirts through the morning. people that think they saw the suspects or think they saw something suspicious. this is the most visible, largest concentration of officers we have seen anywhere this morning. and this whole situation of s.w.a.t. teams going through homes and buildings and barns in the area has been going on now several hours. the police aren't saying what they're finding, if anything. they're being very circumspect about what their investigation is turning up. so we don't know if in fact these are the two suspects or not. there have been a number of sightings through the morning. we also know that there was another police officer a woman, who was killed earlier this morning in a town that's to the south of paris. started with a traffic accident. police in

let's turn to ron allen on long island. ron, what is the situation there tonight? i understand the winds are expecting -- are going to be very very high. >> reporter: indeed. they're saying now up to 70 miles per hour. that's higher than they were forecasting earlier and they're saying the snow is accumulating faster than they thought as well. we have a couple of inches of snow on the ground. the roads are already very, very dangerous. there's still a lot of traffic moving. up there is the long island expressway. those cars and trucks are heading out east to where the storm is going to be even more severe. there was a ban of truck traffic on the roads as of 4:00, but we can still see some heavy trucks trying to move off the roads. we see a steady stream of cars trying to get off and get home. the winds are starting to gust. that's a big concern out here. this is long island. we are surrounded by water on a couple of sides here. you can't see it this time of night. they're concerned about big storm surges and big erosion and so forth. the big fear is what would happ

>> you know what let's go back to ron allen in a second. we're having some problems there with our satellite technology. it's a blizzard. it's going to happen. air travel though slowly resuming at newark airport in new jersey. most flights remain canceled at laguardia and jfk airports. passengers on one virgin atlantic flight were left overnight in the deserted jfk airport in new york city. they were given nothing more than -- nothing more than a $15 mcdonald's voucher, we're told. they couldn't leave because of the city's travel ban. couldn't even get to their luggage. felix coones is one of those passengers and joins me now by phone. felix, you've been giving blow-by-blow accounts on your twitter page. we've been showing some of the images that you snapped. according to your recent tweets it looks like you and the other passengers have just been relocated. is that right? >> that's right, craig. we've just gone -- i've been here about han hour and a half shower and try to take a nap. there's so much excite on my twitter feed, i don't think

i'm joined by ron allen right now. give us the latest. >>> is shows how cool and calculated they were. they had the firepower to move past the police officers. and they turn the counter, and they execute one police officers, as has been said. just an incredible scene. it explains why, a good indication of why the authorities here now as they really have stepped up security. tonight it's hitting newsstands. people are signing up on waitlists to reserve a copy. this sold some 30,000 copies, and now it's going to try to sell some 3 million. and and you're right, they're not packing away from controversy. and on some media outlets has sparked a lot of controversy. and the magazine publishers and cartoonists knew it would be offensive. they say it's freedom of speech. these -- in addition to the public mourning, the funerals, today there was an interesting -- laid out new measures. they're going to fundamentally in some ways change the way that france lives. just as america changed after 9/11. there's going to be more surve

i think -- it was unbelievable. >> ron allen is live in paris. good morning. authorities have a new clue in the hunt for the terrorism suspect? >> reporter: well they do. they have been searching for the accomplice of the man that took hostages and killed people at the grocery store, his live in girlfriend, common law wife 26 years old, seen passing through the airport in turkey on her way to syria. she has been on the run and hasn't turned up anywhere here in paris. the question beyond that is whether there are any further accomplices who are involved in all of this and that's what the investigation is focused on at this point, trying to get to the bottom of the length, the relationships that the four people who were involved in the attack have here in france and in paris. let me show you here you talked about the magazine earlier, charlie hebdo. this is the monument the memorial that's growing every day with more people coming here to pay tribute to the magazine and to the idea of freedom and liberty which was the rallying cry of that march, the huge march t

ron allen, what's the latest regarding the search for the remaining suspect? >> well the woman, melissa, is still at large, and there's having little information about her whereabouts or what they know about her or her role in all of this. we know she is an alleged police and has a relationship with coup bally. we don't know if she was at the marketplace when the siege took place. there are rumors and reports she may have escaped. there's some speculation she may have never been there. but as you pointed out in your open authorities know a lot about the gunmen involved edinvolved, the gunmen at the supermarket and the kouachi brothers. one of them was in prison for some time as well. they were under surveillance for some time. this is a period that goes back to 2005 when there was a first arrest. so one big question here is how did this happen when you have suspects under surveillance, or were under surveillance but apparently slipped through the cracks somehow. now there's an extensive manhunt going on in all kinds of neighborhoods all over paris, we believe.

ron allen, thank you for your time tonight. please stay safe. >>> joining me on the phone now is an official at the center of new york city's effort to deal with the storm. sanitation commissioner katherine garcia in charge of all snowplows in the city tonight. commissioner thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me. >> tell me about what your agency is doing tonight. >> we are in full plow mode at this point across the city. as anticipated, queens is seeing some of the worst of it right now. we anticipate the heaviest bans to come in at midnight. at that point in time by the time we go to shift change we'll have upwards of 2300 dsy vehicles out and have assistance of 250 from our sister agencies as well as from vendors. >> how big of a challenge will it be if drivers disobey the mayor's orders to stay off the streets? >> this is going to be a huge challenge with drivers off the streets. you can imagine it gets exponentially worse if cars stall and block the streets. we won't be able to get through. >> as we head into

but first let's go live to nbc news correspondent ron allen on the seen in paris. yeoman's work today. it has been a long and eventful day. what is the latest right now in paris? >> well ed it's been an incredible day, a day unlike any here in a very very long time and hopefully a day unlike that will ever happen again. such violence on the streets of this beautiful city. we are in eastern paris right on the edge of the area where the supermarket hostage taking and siege happened. you can see behind me there is still a line of police who blocked off the road. the supermarket is down in that direction. we are not been able to get up close to it to see what is going on there. one of the big questions is how many hostages were taken in that jewish part of town. the president of the country called this a violent anti-semitic act that was another chapter in this unfolding series of dramatic and violent episodes in the past couple of days. at one point we believe there may have been as many as a dozen hostages and believe there were four people killed there. but we have

let's get into the latest leads in paris where ron allen is on the. >>> for us. can you walk us through the latest developments? >> we have just been listening to a press conference here who is essentially the chief law enforcement

. >> joining me now is ron allen. we're hearing that weapons may have sourced from outside the country. there's a dragnet that extends to bulgaria. can you give us a sense of the scope of the investigation, standing as you are in paris? >> there's indications that the weapons may have come from serbia or russia. we know that the turks are involved and we know that bulgaria is now involved. those countries as part of the root that some of these individuals traveled upon. this is a network obviously that has some depth to it. all these people are related. and that's what we have been learning over the past couple of days. it is not just a fly by night group. we know that french authorities were aware of one of the kouachi brothers back ten years ago. we know that they were on no fly lists in america and surveillance lists here. this is the network that the authorities here are trying to unravel. how far it will go how wide it will go is unclear, but it all seems to follow the same path. from here to turkey and back to i

ron allen is live in paris with the latest. ron? >> reporter: good afternoon, joy. this morning started off with a bomb-threat at one of the main train stations during the commuter hour it. turned out to be nothing but they vaticanevacuated the station. and later in the day we had a hostage-taking -- [ inaudible ]. >> i believe we have lost ron allen. and we'll try to get him back and bring you more of the report. >>> and here the republican national committee has wrapped up and they plan nine primary debates and three possibly late in the primary season. mitt romney will speak at the winter meter. last week he announced he is considering a third run for the white house. his speech comes a day after potential candidate ben carson made controversial remarks of american revolutionaries to isis. >> a bunch of rag tag people defeated the most powerful military force on the planet? why? because they believed in what they were doing. they were willing to do for what they believed in. the british were not. fast forward to today and what do we have? we've got isis. they got

>> ron allen in paris. thank you very much. >>> back in this country, we're just a few hours away from president obama's bilateral meeting with british prime minister david cameron. then just after noon both men will take questions from the media. you can bet what's happened in paris and across europe will be at the top of the list. nbc's kristen welker is live at the white house this morning. kristen, good morning. >> reporter: jose good morning. that's right. the two leaders will discuss a range of topics including the paris attacks. the broader fight against isis. also the fight against foreign fighters. it's estimated as many as 3,000 westerners including more than 100 americans have traveled overseas to places like iraq and syria to fight alongside violent extremists there. some of those like the paris attackers, then return to their western homelands to wage attacks at home. it is also anticipated that prime minister david cameron will ask president obama to press u.s. internet company ises. companies

. >> nbc's ron allen, live in paris this morning. ron, good morning. obviously more than a magazine that went on sale today? >> reporter: it is. and here it is. and we're not showing it to you, our viewers, because some of it is offensive. they'll find offensive and some is quite vulgar and in poor taste, and intellectually high brow and satirical and all of those things and very strong messages about freedom of expression freedom of speech. the need for secularism in society. they are an equal it opportunity and take on terrorists islam, the pope they take on french politicians. it's very irreverent but i think you're right that people now want this magazine because it is caused such a stir to see what it is and to hang on to it, because apparently it has investment value now. that's very serious. i don't mean to joke about it but that's why i think so many people are lining up to get a look at this. certainly i wanted to see, what is it? what's all the fuss jab the magazine cover, obviously, was perhaps the most controversial part of it with an image

we now go to ron allen in long island. what are you seeing? >> reporter: well, i'm not seeing much. i can kind of see the camera over there and some lights and you can see all the swirling snow that's really been gusting a lot more as each hour goes by and it's accumulating. can you probably see in these bushes ever time we come we shake and clear and when we come back they're covered. on the ground here there's probably a good 6 inches or so. i'm not good at estimating this stuff, but it's started to accumulate a lot. in this direction over here if you will turn that way, you will see basically nothing. the road's completely empty. that's the long island expressway up there and an offramp. and we are only seeing a few vehicles. looks like a tow truck who's been trying to pull some vehicles off the road. there are reports of vehicles that have been stranded already or wrecked on the highways. we haven't been able to leave this position to go around. and as you know there's a travel ban throughout this part of new york as of 11:00 tonight. so we're kind of hunkered down in this locat

i'm joined by ron allen right now. give us the latest. >>> is shows how cool and calculated they were. they had the firepower to move past the police officers. and they turn the counter, and they execute one police officers, as has been said. just an incredible scene. it explains why, a good indication of why the authorities here now as they really have stepped up security. tonight it's hitting newsstands. people are signing up on waitlists to reserve a copy. this sold some 30,000 copies and now it's going to try to sell some 3 million. and and you're right they're not packing away from controversy. and on some media outlets has sparked a lot of controversy. and the magazine publishers and cartoonists knew it would be offensive. they say it's freedom of speech. these -- in addition to the public mourning the funerals today there was an interesting -- laid out new measures. they're going to fundamentally in some ways change the way that france lives. just as america changed after 9/11. there's going to be more surveilla

let's get into the latest leads in paris where ron allen is on the. >>> for us. can you walk us through the latest developments? >> we have just been listening to a press conference here who is essentially the chief law enforcement officer updating us on the day's developments. the headline is that there is security that is going to be stepped up more so here with hundreds of military and even more police in different parts of the country based on what they have learned because of the developments that happened here today. he said the security will be stepped up in places like public buildings and tourist destinations and places of worship. journalists were attacked in the incident yesterday. you also recall that earlier today, there was an incident where a female police officer was somehow investigating a traffic accident that happened somewhere in the south of paris was killed by a gunman. he said that was not expected to the attack on the magazine but they were searching for that suspect. what we have been watching through the afternoon hours is a massive manh

thank you very much ron allen. and an emotional funeral for those killed in the attack in the grocery store in paris. >> reporter: it was, it certainly was for the families and hundreds of mourners. the bodies of four victims arrived this morning into tel aviv. hundreds gathered to pay final respects. a big part of mourners were the french jewish population here in israel. many of them carrying signs saying the expression we have seen around the world, je suis charlie, expressing solidarity with the families of victims. some comments came from eulogies, a lot of important people in attendance israel's president and prime minister both paying tribute to the four individuals that were killed. in addition to that really raising concerns about the growing anti-semitism in europe and at the same time calling on world leaders to do more to combat that. all of this has triggered a bit of debate in israel and abroad about whether or not the country's leadership has been calling for the jewish population in france to emigra

. >>> and joining me now live from paris is nbc's ron allen. so ron, let's start off with this new video that's coming in of this town outside of paris. what more do we know regarding the incident there? >> reporter: well, this has been going on for some time tamron for several hours since earlier this morning. and it's perhaps the most significant police operation that we have seen during the day as this manhunt continues in many parts of paris and the surrounding areas. that community is about an hour and a half or so 90 minutes or so, away from paris. and so it gives you some sense of the scale, the amount of territory that the police are trying to cover. and they've been getting calls throughout the day from residents, people who think they have seen something suspicious, and of course the police are tracking it down because they have really no idea where these two suspects may have gone. and what they may do. as you pointed out, we did have this incident earlier this morning of a policewoman who was involved investigating an accident somew

for more let me bring in nbc news correspondent ron allen in paris tonight. ron, good to have you with us. what's the latest from french authorities? they have apprehended nine people in this investigation, what do you make of that? >> they're rounding up a lot of people. the parents of the two suspects have been questioned and that happened yesterday and they're on a trail and as you pointed out in the lead there is a lot of territory to cover and potential places where these two alleged perpetrators could be. since nightfall the last number of hours or so we've had much less information coming from the north of paris where this extensive man hunt has been going on now for some time. so we're not really hearing a lot and of course that's for obvious reasons and they're not trying to tip their hands about what they know and don't know of course. it's been a day of very fast-moving events and a lot of uncertainty, i think, is fair to say. a lot of anxiety, as well and a lot of concern about where this all is going. this morning the country woke up to word that

we start tonight with nbc's ron allen in paris. ron, what's the latest on the manhunt? >> well reverend al we've not heard much from the authorities for the past few hours, since night has fallen here. we're getting very regular updates from our colleagues on the ground there. it's about 90 minutes away from here. but things seem to have gone quiet. you might expect that at night. there was a huge police semi- military-style operation going on up there, with dozens of officers, s.w.a.t. units going door to door. apparently following some pretty serious leads they had for these two suspects. but of late we've not heard a lot about what's going on up there, and it's really unclear whether there was a solid lead solid information, or what. there have been tips reports of possible sightings of the suspects throughout the day. so at this point, it's really unclear exactly where they are in this manhunt. and there's a lot of territory to cover up there. >> now, we're getting reports, were these two suspects already under surveillance? >> yes. the younger brother had been unde

nbc's ron allen is live in paris. ron, the response to "charlie hebdo" to this first printing is enormous but also the response -- what is the response there to the claims of responsibility from al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, the al qaeda branch based in yemen? >> reporter: i don't think anyone is surprised by that. there had been indications of that earlier. of course it adds another dimension to all this because it suggests this operation, the operation that killed so many here last week were well planned, financed they seem sophisticated. that video that was released yesterday that shows the kouachi brothers leaving the scene of the magazine and then calmly getting into their car, reloading their weapons, and then taking on the police officer down that narrow street opening fire with what looked like a military operation. huge propaganda value for isis and for al qaeda. so i don't think people are surprised by that at all. the big story here today is this magazine. it's 12 page and it's the most sought-after ma

joining me live in paris, ron allen and live in jerusalem, ayman mohyeldin. the moving saying and paris trying to recover and the investigation heating up. >> reporter: indeed andrea, a lot of anticipation about the release, publication of this magazine tomorrow and what the reaction is going to be to it. tonight we're hearing already at news agents newsstandses around the country you have to put your name on a list and try to reserve a copy because there's such demand. they'll be hitting the stands tonight. it will be available online as well in 16 different languages. and it's an interesting thing. certainly some people are going to be upset by it. that they are depicting the image of mohammed that is blass peoplous in islam. some people wonder is this the right time to do that? when you talk to the 4 million or so who marched in the streets around country the other day, they feel strongly that whatever the publishers or cartooners want to do is appropriate and that the press conference this afternoon, you could see emotion and see how devastated these peop

you want to get to ron allen. tell me more about these reports of hiayat about how manboumedie. >> reporter: french authorities won't answer any questions about her role in the events of yesterday. it's a bigamist mystery. the idea she left the country some time ago has some truth to it. we cannot confirm this. there was no confirmed citings of her at the supermarket. the hostages in the supermarket when the raid and siege happened, they know the suspect is dead. there are four hostages who tragically lost their lives. where else would she be? the authorities have been all over the neighborhood and the community and the families of the gunmen, because they've been known to the authorities here for quite some time, which is also one of the big concerns here. how can people who were known to the authorities, who had prison records, in some cases, how could they essentially slip through the cracks? they have been under surveillance and carried out these crimes. coordinate this thing in a horrible, bloody way. she is

back to you guys. >> ron allen, thanks again. that long island expressway traffic did not look good. let's bring in tom costello at la guardia airport. tom, i don't know what to say other than how bad will it be? no one is getting out today? >> reporter: no. in fact we have ground stopping here at la guardia and newark airport. that means those flights that were supposed to be coming in they are not coming in. and here is right. leroy, turn this around. we're going to do this in an unorthodox fashion. we have 26 hundred flights canceled today and tomorrow. here is the misery map from flight aware. it will show you the worst hit cities. la guardia leading in cancellations. 51% canceled, 61% of arrivals and it is building in philadelphia, and also jfk and newark. washington's reagan as well because they feed to the northeast. and chicago affected 98 flights leaving o.r.d. are canceled and 59 flying in are canceled as well. and that is what you would expect into and out of the northeast it. will take quite a while to recover from ha

ron allen, nbc news paris. now back to you. >>> a texas congressman set off a social media storm. now he's apologizing for a message that seemingly compared president obama to adolf hitler. republican congressman randy webber sent a tweet last night that reads, "even adolf hitler thought it more important than obama to get to paris for all the wrong reasons. obama couldn't do it for right reasons." he's referencing the president's failure to join world leaders at an anti-terror march on sunday and hitler's visit to occupy paris back in 1940. a short time ago weber tweeted an apology and said he didn't intend to trivialize the holocaust or compare the president to hitler. >>> stranded in the wood with a broken arm, a woman's incredible survival story and the pocket-sized snack that helped her ride out the night. >>> then consumer reporter erika gonzalez unveils a brand-new tool that could help you save thousands on your home payments. >>> storm team 4 tracking a new system that could make a mess tomorrow morning. v.j.? >> that's right. and we hit air early tomorrow starting at 4:00

ron allen is standing by in paris with the latest from there. ron? >> well, jose we still keep hearing sirens from police racing by the area heading toward the supermarket which is not far from where i'm standing. keep watching to see if there are balanceambulancing coming back but i haven't seen any. just more police cars. some are milling around here. i'm not sure if it's becoming a stageing area or something. in any event, the situations are both evolving simultaneously and they're both obviously very connected. people here are watching very closely. this is an area where there have been gathers of huge numbers of people last night and the night before in support and solidarity for the victims of the massacre and, of course what followed. the president of france has spoken today and called for unity. we've heard over the of days there are been, for example, a number of attacks in various mosques in different parts of paris and the surrounding area. there's concern about retaliation. there's concern of the muslim community about retaliation because

thank you so much, ron allen, from paris. appreciate that. >>> in other news now, a record 6 million people attended a papal mass in the philippines today. pope francis rapped up his pilgrimage in the capital city of manila. the previous record crowd for the vatican was 5 million, who turned out for st. john paul ii's final mass in 1995. >>> incredible story out of oregon. a big pileup on icy road conditions, but a man was pinned between two semi trucks and walked away with mere scratches. in fact, all he needed to cover his cuts were two band-aids. the escape happened after a crash that involved about 26 vehicles, most of them trucks. about a dozen people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. >>> on the eve of the martin luther king holiday, oprah winfrey is expected to lead a march in selma, alabama, later today in honor of the late civil rights leader. winfrey is a producer of the oscar-nominated film "selma." on friday winfrey attended a private screening of the film at the white house. >>> and a single case of

ron allen, thank you very much for the live report from paris. i know we'll be speaking with you again today. and as ron was saying the key word there is "ongoing." certainly, the sieges in france are over but this morning, there remains more questions than answers. how did the charlie hebdo shooters get out of paris? where is hayat boumediene? and how did she escape the grocery store? and is there a threat of copy cat attacks? joining me now, retired special agent in charge and hostage negotiator, jim cavenaugh and an msnbc analyst. jim, are you concerned about copy cat attacks or other sleeper cells taking this moment to come forward? >> i am alex good morning. i think that's a real possibility, not only in france but i think worldwide. you know the terrorists have always benefited from a thing called the propaganda of the deed. you know they use that in suicide bombings. you know we would all think, you know, in looking at it someone puts a bomb on themselves and blows themselves up, who would want to do that. but they leverage that to recruit

. >> ron allen, that brings us to the issue of paris and the fact the kouachi brothers could move so easily may have been in spain, the fact that -- excuse me -- that the visa requirements in the eu are so loose. >> reporter: exactly, you can move very easily between countries here without showing passports and there's a call now for tighter border controls to try to restrict movement. yes, all of these raids between here belgium and germany, we're talking about distances that are hours of driving as opposed to -- even though we're talking several countries, europe obviously so much smaller than the united states in terms of where these things are happening. it's a dense problem. here in paris today we began the day with a bomb threat at one of the bomb scare at one of the major train stations it was evacuated and that turned out to be nothing. put people on edge. we have the hostage situation which sounded like the situation at the jewish grocery store, a gunman hostages and post office, about an hour later that turned out not to be a big problem. so people are still on edge. the po

nbc's ron allen is live in paris. and ron, let's start with that search. what is the latest? >> reporter: well there's still thousands of people out here in the square that's not far from the magazine show -- huge show of solidarity going on for many hours. in the background, you may people saying chanting charlie, charlie, i am charlie, we are charlie. if you pan that direction, you can get a closer look at what people are doing. there's displays of candles, flowers, there was also a display of tools that journalists used. pens and highlighters. showing support and solidarity for the victims lost. this is a community coming together while at the same time an intensive manhunt continues. and there are, of course three suspects they're looking for. whoever was responsible for a shooting and killing the policewoman this morning and the two suspects from the attack at the magazine yesterday. that focuses on an area about 90 miles north of paris where there is a huge police manhunt going on, trying to pin down where they believe the suspects may be. but, again, this is all very s

right to nbc's ron allen is in paris and joins me live. ron, what can you tell us about these reports about the whereabouts of hayat boumeddiene? >> reporter: we've not been able to confirm it, frances, as you reported. it's something french authorities are just being very, very tight-lipped about. it's a huge story here. it's been circulating for several hours, and it's been one of the big mysteries hanging over this entire episode. where is this woman? did she play a role in the activities, the assaults that happened yesterday, the hostage takings, the murders? that is unclear. there were no reports of her being sighted at the grocery store with her boyfriend/partner, but again it's unclear about where she was. if these reports are true that she left the country several days ago and is now, as the reports say, in syria, that tends to sound like it could be possible because it sounds like this operation had some level of planning, some level of coordination with the attack on the news magazine and that might have been part of it, she left

ron allen is live in paris. what is the mood in paris today and how visible is this hyped up security? >> reporter: well a little while ago, joy, i heard a bunch of sirens around the plaza here in the center of paris where we are. and over in that direction, there was a police operation, about a dozen officers stopping a man and questioning him. and now whether that is related to this new security step-up or not, i don't know. but i can tell you that being here in the middle of town for several days now, there has been a lot of police activity. they are concerned about trying to stop anything else that might be about to happen and people are on edge. there is some anxiety but it is a lot calmer here now than it was three or four days ago right after the attacks when there were still gunman at large and before the awful hostage situations that ended up in carnage and death. people are going to see more police on the streets. in the metro and subway and outside of sites like public buildings and tourist destinatio

nbc's ron allen live in paris. thank you. >>> and we are learning today that attorney general eric holder is headed to paris where he will attend an international conference on sunday. scheduled in response to the attacks. the topic will be violent extremism and terrorist threats. we're joined by the senior analyst at global partners. let's start with the talking about these gunmen. the two brothers who are still at large. what if anything do we know about them and their background? >> well from what we hear from french authorities and what has been reported thus far from france is that these two brothers obviously are at large. they went to northern paris, to a town where they were allegedly spotted by a clerk at a gas station. and that clerk was threatened by them, they stole food and gas and they escaped further. and now, we don't know where they are obviously right now. and probably french authorities are not disclosing all of the information in fear they might tip them off. but what we've heard, what we've see

but first let's head to nbc's ron allen at le republique square. it is not common to see military deployed in the streets of paris. what is the reaction there? >> reporter: i think it is a beginning of a period of soul searching and hard questions for the french people. you can see in paris there are still people out here at this memorial paying respects and homage here to celebrate and mourn. a mix of emotions at the monument for the victims, the 17 frenchmen who were lost in the attacks of the past few days. there are discussions here now about what are the limits of security and surveillance for the public. the similar debate that the united states had after 9/11. there is discussions about patriot act-like moves of the government and movement around europe which is now relatively free across borders and unincumbered across borders and should that be tightened and how much. and at tack here was rejected and upset so many because it was on liberty and freedom and those are questions that the french people will have to discuss in the coming weeks,

the reaction has been followed throughout the day by ron allen. what has the feel been like as people struggle to get their issues, even as we've had a hard time coming by? >> got one. i've been reading it all day with our french colleagues. it's quite something. i think most people who want this are drawn to the novelty of it. it's the most sought-after mag in the world, obviously. 16 pages. it's at times very high brow. it's edgy. it's hard to compare it to anything in the states. it's humor, it's arrogant it's irreverent, it's all those things. >> it is deeply french was my impression. >> yeah, some of the humor is cultural. one of the jokes you might get is a terrorist who shows up in an airport trying to check in for a flight and you see his bags bulging with guns and the person at the counter says there's no seats available. he says okay i'll just hijack a plane. >> one of the less comprehensible planes is there's one comic towards the back in which they say our pens are sharper than you are, and there's an obscene word that means about thre