0 that's it for "the lead." i'm jake tapper. i'll be back in two hours on "outfront" 7:00 p.m. eastern. i now turn you over to wolf blitzer. he is right next door in "the situation room." mr. blitzer? we're following the breaking news, a ceiling collapses during a performance at an historic london theater. there are casualties. we are going live to the scene. also, target shoppers targeted. up to 40 million credit and debit cards may have been compromised by hackers who somehow broke into the retailer's checkout system. we will tell you information you need to know, what you need to do about it. and cocaine clemency. president obama commutes the sentences of convicted convicts and hands out pardons to other prisoners. what's behind the move? i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we do have breaking news this hour. a ceiling has collapsed at an historic london theater right in the middle of a performance. authorities say there are many casualties. our senior international correspondent nic robertson is on the scene for us. nic, tell our viewers what we know. >> reporter: well, wolf, we know so far that the ceiling collapsed inside the apollo theater about 40 minutes into a performance this evening. it was a crowded theater. over 700 people in there. 30 to 40 people injured, five of them seriously. precisely why the roof collapsed is unclear at this time. the police have cordoned off this very busy west end district in the center of london. i'm joined by two people here, michelle and henry, who were both inside the theater watching this performance. michelle, can you describe what happened? what you saw? >> we were about a third through the show and all of a sudden, people started moving and i couldn't understand why, then there was a cloud of smoke and it just became like a black mist and people climbing over me. i don't understand why and i said to henry we've got to go, we've got to go, i don't know why, but we've got to go. pick up your things, we're going. >> reporter: henry, what did you see? did you get any indication the ceiling was about to collapse? >> no indication whatsoever. it collapsed and people were climbing over us so we decided it was time to leave. michelle grabbed hold of me and we tried to get out as quick as we could. it was pandemonium. there was panic everywhere. >> reporter: could you see people who were injured around you? >> you couldn't see a thing. as soon as the roof caved in there was smoke everywhere, it was very dark. there was nothing we could see. >> outside there were a lot of people, they just looked black. they were just covered in soot. and i didn't see any seriously injured people, but they were just covered in soot. i was lucky, we were lucky because we were just higher above the ceiling that actually had collapsed. >> reporter: the ceiling collapsed toward the back of the theater. can you describe that moment when it happened? >> i thought it was part of the show, you know when you have smoke, as part of the show. then it just became obvious because people were panicking and it became -- i wanted to lock myself in the toilet and then i thought no, we've got to get out of here. >> reporter: so henry, you have people clambering over you. what happened then? >> it's incredibly surreal. you don't know what you're doing. we were looking for the exits, as simple as that. we didn't know where we were. like michelle says, we were covered in i guess soot. >> which exit do you choose, the right one, the left one. >> reporter: people described the emergency services getting on the scene very quickly. what was your experience? >> by the time we were out, it was about, what, two minutes, three minutes, and they were there. it was incredible. >> reporter: police, ambulance? >> very impressed that they were there. by the time we were out on the street. >> it was very impressive, to be fair. it's never a situation you want to find yourself in but it was very impressive the way they dealt with it. >> reporter: as far as you know the theater was very full this evening? >> packed, i would say. i didn't see an empty seat the whole time we were there. >> that's right. >> reporter: thank you both very much indeed. glad you're okay. thank you for joining us. thank you. thank you very much. wolf, we are really only just beginning to get to grips with what has happened here. we are seeing some of the fire service workers move away from the area, an indication that perhaps their job is done. we do understand from the fire service that they have able to get all the people out of the theater now. we've seen people being taken away by paramedics, but again, the extent of some of these serious injuries, those details we are not aware of. >> we are told 700 people, as you say, were inside and maybe 20 to 40 were injured, some of them seriously, right? >> reporter: five seriously, we understand. that was the most recent count we had. 30 or 40 injured all together. eyewitnesses we talked to described seeing people with cuts, with lacerations, people covered in dust. again, the paramedics that we've seen going in, arriving very, very quickly and this is a recurring theme that we're hearing from the eyewitnesses here. people inside the theater. there's a fire station just a couple of blocks away from the theater, very quickly on the scene. police quickly on the scene. we're now hearing that seven serious casualties is what we understand at the moment. so those figures changing, which is what we would expect in a developing situation like this. you can probably still hear the sirens going off. this is a very busy district in the center of london. the theaters around here, very busy at this time of year. i was in a theater myself this weekend just a block from here. very, very busy. this area now cordoned off by the police. seeing some more of the paramedics moving away from the scene, empty stretchers so perhaps an indication now that the emergency services have at least done most of their work here. perhaps a chance for the other services to get in and try to discover what actually happened. we're watching somebody being wheeled away, just to my side here, somebody wheeled away, wrapped in an emergency aluminum blanket. four paramedics with them, helping that person away on a stretcher. we witnessed somebody else being taken away. i see the doors to the ambulance open down there where they're being taken away, loaded into the ambulance. although the emergency services very quickly on the scene, it seems that they are still treating people, we understood they were being taken to the theater next door to the apollo theater for treatment, and now seeing some of them taken away. so clearly some level of treatment going on on the scene here. very likely stabilizing some of those injuries. >> we are told about 720 people were in the theater at the time of this collapse. we're also now told about 80 walking wounded outside, many of whom have had head injuries. about seven people, as you point out now, much more seriously injured, gone to local hospitals. this apollo theater, piccadilly circus right in the heart of london, it actually opened its doors in february of 1901. this is more than 100 years old. i assume they have renovated over the years, but is this extraordinary in london that an old theater like this has a problem, or has this occurred in the past, nic? you live in london. we may have lost or connection with nic robertson, unfortunately. we will get back to him. he's on the scene outside the apollo theater, piccadilly circus in london. here's another gripping description of the ceiling collapse from someone who was inside the theater at the time. listen to this. >> it was a very, very loud series of bangs and cracks, and then the whole view of the theater in front of us was obscured by a cloud of dust and debris, which would have fallen on to the audience in front of us. initially, i think the thought was it had to do with the performance because it has side effects and it's a little unexpected in places but immediately it appeared that wasn't the case. everybody got up and dashed for an exit. there were people outside completely dumbfounded by what happened and slowly people started coming out covered in dust from head to toe. i was there, i saw about 20 or 30 people bloodied. >> you can only imagine being inside that theater, more than 700 people inside the apollo theater in london watching "the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime." that's the play up on the stage and all of a sudden, a ceiling or balcony starts collapsing, and people start screaming in terror. jim sciutto used to be based in london, has been to the apollo theater there. he's joining us. jim, give us your impressions what this old theater is like. it opened its doors back in february of 1901. >> yeah, picture yourself in a famous broadway theater, it's big, historical, and it's just a few blocks from piccadilly circus which is like times square, right in the center. inside, it's one of these classic old school theaters. it's got three balconies above the ground floor level, lit with all this gold decoration, that kind of thing. a real antique piece. so picture yourself inside, imagining one of those collapsing and just how confusing and how much panic there must have been there. but this is right in the middle of it, the best comparison i can think of is one of those theaters around times square in new york. >> these are old buildings, but i assume in london, they go ahead and inspect these buildings all the time. you have more than 700 people crammed into a theater, they want to make sure it's safe. as you point out, three levels above the ground level, four levels all together. >> that's right. when you think about it, 100 years old is not a very old building. you have buildings in london from the 15th century, 600 years old going back to tudor times, some of those in downtown london. they have a history of protecting these buildings. in fact, prince charles has the prince's trust which goes around the country to protect old buildings. they also have a history of keeping them in good shape. this kind of thing, very good history of protection and inspection so this would be a surprise. it's not like in london, they're not used to having old buildings like that that they have to maintain and inspect. >> they certainly do. stand by. cnn's erin mcloughlin is in london for us right now. what are you hearing from officials there? >> reporter: hi, wolf. the london fire brigade now saying that seven people were seriously injured in this incident, 80 walking wounded, all trapped -- all that were trapped now free. that according to the london fire brigade, metropolitan police tweeting that they do not believe there have been any fatalities as a result of this incident. also saying that even a london bus at one point was used to transport wounded to the hospital in an incident that happened about an hour and 45, an hour and 50 minutes ago at that very historic theater right in the heart of london. >> it's obviously now, what time is it approaching, 11:00, almost approaching 10:00 or 11:00 at night, right? >> reporter: it's around 10:00 at night. still authorities on the scene have developed a cordon around the apollo theater. they are still treating people who have been injured and assessing the damage, no doubt in the coming days they will be taking a very close look at the condition of the ceiling inside this theater to figure out what went wrong. >> we will stay on top of this story, give you more information to our viewers as it becomes available. erin, don't go too far away. once again, the apollo theater right in the heart of london near piccadilly circus, the apollo theater having a major, major collapse. 700 people inside, at least seven injured critically, 80 injured all together, we're told. we are also awaiting a possible news conference in london. we will bring you that and the updates as they become available. there is other important news, though, we're following, including a major story developing right here in the united states. up to 40 million credit and debit cards used at a national retailer, target, may have been compromised by hackers. we have a security expert standing by to tell you what you need to know, what you need to do about it if you were impacted. also, president obama commutes the sentences of a group of crack cocaine convicts so what's behind this move to free these drug offenders? 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