will: fox news alert, if you're joining us just this hour, it's a historic morning in the united states.

overnight, former president donald trump arriving in new jersey after an attempted assassination on his life during his rally last night in pennsylvania. pete: trump says a bullet pierced the top of his right ear as he then ducked to the ground before standing back up moments later, defiantly shaking his fist. one rally-goer was killed in the shooting, two others were critically hurt. trump survived by a mere half inch. the fbi identifying the suspected shooter as 20 the-year-old as thomas matthew crooks of bethel park, pennsylvania. we will warn you, there's a photo of what appears to be the dead gunman on a rooftop nearby. rachel: investigators say crooks took position on a roof 11300 yards from the -- 130 yards from the pose if yum and opened fire before being shot and killed. capitol police will hold a virtual security briefing for house offices later this afternoon.

we're now going to show you the full, unedited version of the moment that those shots rang out. watch. >> -- take a looked at what happened -- [gunfire] [background sounds] >> what are we doing? what are we doing? >> fire, fire, fire, fire,. [inaudible conversations] >> are you ready in on you. move! if. >> go. [inaudible conversations] >> shooter's down. are we good 40 -- to move?

>> we're clear! >> i got you, sir. >> let me get my if shoes. [inaudible conversations] >> watch out. >> usa! usa! usa! usa! usa! usa! [inaudible conversations]

will: just incredible. iconic. we have live team coverage. ainsley earhart is in new jersey, lawrence jones is live on the scene of last night's rally in butler, pennsylvania, but we're going to begin with c.b. cotton who's also live in butler and has more information on the suspect. c.b. >> reporter: hi, good morning. the sun is rising on a community left heart broken. the area where the gunshots rang out is now an active crime scene, so members in the media, we're being e kept about half a mile away for investigators to do this very important work. in the meantime, there are so many questions from people in this community and really across

the entire nation on how the named shooter, thomas matthew crooks, was able to gain access to a roof with a direct vantage point to the rally stage. some reported seeing the gunman move from roof to the roof before the shooting, and witnesses continue to recount the terror. >> a lot of people thought someone had snuck fireworks in. and also you have to take into account there was no cell service because everyone was on their phones. there is no actual information. >> complete chaos, you know? we all went to the ground, and we didn't know what was going on. >> i was nervous that the shooter could possibly spray out into the crowd because, you know, he doesn't like the president, he doesn't like us. >> we noticed a guy crawling, bear crawling on the roof of the building beside us. hey, man, there's a guy on the roof with a rifle. i'm thinking to myself, why have they not pulled him off the

stage? i'm standing there point at him for two, three minutes and next thing you know, five shots ring out. >> reporter: republican speaker mike johnson says the house will conduct a full investigation, and house oversight committee chairman james comer is now calling on the secret service director to appear for a hearing on july 22 2nd. the fbi is leading the the investigation into the attempted assassination, and the agency says the the secret service will have to answer how and why the roof outside the rally perimeter was left unsecured. >> again, the secret service really needs to answer that question. they conduct the initial sight survey -- site survey. they do the initial security assessments and determine where the different security locations should be, and they're the ones who are in charge of securing the scene. we, along with other state and local assets are there to support the secret service in their mission. >> reporter: mean if while,

people from all political views continue to condemn the assassination attempt, this as we see another show of strength for from former president donald trump who arrived in new jersey early this morning, walking down the steps of his plane unassisted at the airport. from the camera's vantage point, you can't see the injuries to trump's ear, but eric trump said his dad was, quote, one of the toughest guys. president biden's campaign announced that it is immediately trying to pull all of its campaign ads in light of this horrific tragedy. back to you. will: all right. thank you, c.b.. we have team coverage including ainsley earhart who's in bedminster, new jersey, this morning where donald trump is, and lawrence jones who's in butler, pennsylvania, the site of this attempted assassination. ainsley, we're going to start with you. trump is in bedminster. he's now there, as are you. tell us what you know. i think you've had a chance to speak to a few people this morning in new jersey.

tell us what you get the sense of this morning. >> reporter: yeah. so, will, i've talked to a few people that were talking to donald trump last night, and he went to to bed at 2:00. we saw him walk down the stairs of his plane unassisted. seemed to be in good spirits, even joking around and even comforting those around him, those who were still in shock and very concerned. he was scheduled to play golf with senator lindsey graham here at bedminster about five minutes down the road here. the perimeter has been just fortified with secret service, it is the shut down today, members are not allowed to come today, neither are staff. no one is allowed on the property. secret service is there to prevent you from going on just to protect him out of an abundance of caution. but he was in good spirits, went to bed only a few hours ago a, and he was very concerned, obviously, about melania and all of his children but especially barron because he's the youngest and wanted to make sure they were okay. they were in shock and very concerned last night and so were

all of the older children. there are a lot of questions about how this gunman was on top of that roof, why wasn't that within the perimeter if an ar-style rifle can shoot up to 600 toyards, why wouldn't that be in the perimeter when he was less than 200 yards away. it's a dichotomy here because the family loves their detail, they love the president's detail, they're very close to them and are grateful for secret service, but also a they have concerns. why was there a security breach? why was this gunman on top of the roof? why were witnesses alerting law enforcement, and nothing was being done, and he was up there for minutes? the president, i'm hearing, is very upset about, obviously, the person behind him, one of his fans, supporters, constituents that was gunned down by the shooter. i know he has helped set up a gofundme page for that family and is trying to get any information. they've been on the forefront of his mind, and he cares so deeply for them and will be, i'm sure,

getting in touch with them and doing a lot more for that family. pete: to that point, donald trump put out a statement on truth social last night where he immediately talked about the person that was killed and others injured. here's what he said, i want to thank the united states secret service and all law enforcement for their rapid response on the shooting that justing took place in butler. most importantly, i want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the rally who was killed and also to the family of the other person that was badly injured. it is incredible that such an act can take place in our country. nothing is known at this time about the shooter who is now dead. i was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. i knew immediately that something was wrong in that i heard a whizzing sound, shots and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. much bleeding took place, so i realized then what was happening. god bless america. there's a gofundme page also set

up by the president for the victims of what happened in butler, pa. but it's amazing, i was struck, ainsley, by one thing you said, he was almost consoling other people around him. this is a guy with the fortitude and the resilience unlike what we've seen. >> reporter: yeah. yeah, someone who talked to him said, mr. president, you know if you had not turned your head, this would be a different story, and he was joking around and fine and moving on to the next subject. so he's just a fighter, so strong, and this is one of the reasons why america loves him. rachel: lawrence, when ronald reagan was shot, he famously said i forgot to duck. in the case of donald trump, it's believed from the video footage that just his movement and he missed it by, the bullet missed him by just a millimeter. you're at the site of what our own medical correspondent, dr. siegel, is calling a medical miracle. what are you hearing there on the ground?

>> reporter: well, i'll say this, we can talk about the medical miracle, we can talk about the duck and the split second decision, but there is no donald trump today without jesus christ this morning. i mean, we could be having a very different conversation this morning -- rachel: that's right. >> -- going over the obituary of the 45th president this morning. and if it wasn't for the grace of god, things could have been different. so i give honor and glory to our lord and savior, jesus christ, for protecting the former president. and there has been, you know, you've been out there, guys. you've been talking the people before this moment. this was always the fear. and i kind of used to just duck it behind my head and say, you know, everything is going to be okay. but there was always this feeling within the movement that the pressures to prosecute him

and then it would eventually escalate to someone trying to kill him. i mean, there's multiple things to go over. i don't think we should rush this conversation. i separate it into two different categories, the spirit of yesterday and the execution of yesterday. it was a moment to see the former president even under pressure, to hold up his fist, to reassure not just the people in the crowd, but to the country and to say fight, fight, fight as, you know, you can talk about how a person will act under pressure. we saw it in realtime yesterday with. we don't have to say or hear stories about the former president, how he reacts behind closed doors, we saw it with our own eyes. but when you get past the spirit of the moment, and and i even see a secret service agent pick up that maga hat and remember what that maga hat has been

deemed by many on the other side as a threat to democracy, as a anti-american. i mean, you can go down the list of the rhetoric that has been said about that, but when you get away from the spirit and you talk about the execution, there's a lot of things that i saw yesterday that was deeply concerning. and i think the conversation has to go do we want our presidents and former presidents to have the best protecting them or semi? and i know the people that do these jobs, the ego can get involved with it, but it's a genuine conversation because -- and, pete, you know this because you've been around the best at counter-snipers, people that do threat assessments. what was displayed yesterday was not the best. and i don't think it's a slight at the secret service. i mean, we're talking about the

best that go through and do shots every single day, that go through situational -- when was the last qualification? when was the last time you fired a round? looking at some of the ways that people tack their firearm out -- took their firearm out and then put it back in the holster, there was some difficulty there. people that a do this every single day, there is a certain muscle memory that go through where it is clean because that is what they do. and so, look, i don't doubt that the secret service are patriots, and i know many of them, and i see them and i lift them up. but if it wasn't for the grace of god yesterday, we could be preparing for a state funeral in the capitol. will: right. >> reporter: and i think that needs to be evaluated this morning. will: really quickly, lawrence -- rachel: fair point. will: -- sadly, someone did lose

their life last night, and alexis mcadams, while she was broadcasting last night, made if it clear during her reporting when this became an active crime scene in her access to the facility and to witnesses changed. i'm just curious, i know you arrived late last night, it's very, very early this morning. you're there though, lawrence. i'm just curious what you're seeing. i see a chain-link fence if behind you, i don't know if that is the site of the rally or how close you've been able to get. what are you getting a sense of as you arrive at a place that i presume is still a crime scene? >> reporter: it is. i mean, it's -- everything is frozen in time right now. you're not able to go back there. the flag that was, that you see behind me is still lit just like it was last night. that building right behind me to my right is where the counter sniper team were positioned. if you look at a the light to my far left is where the shooter was positioned past that last

light right there. so everything is frozen right here. but a concerning thing when you talk about this scene right here and who's leading the investigation, the fbi will be leading the investigation, but the people that were in charge of securing it did not show up to the press conference. so you have the fbi, you've got the local police, and when the fbi agent in charge was asked about the secret service, they didn't have time to show up to the conference. now, i don't know if he was saying that they were rushing back. no one has -- washington, d.c. where the headquarters is, is not far away from the pennsylvania. i was in new york city after the incident, and i got on a flight here. so there are real concerns and questions that need to be answered. and i also want to note why the press conference was done so late. i mean, there should have been reassurance to the public way before time. and that's how all crime scenes

are handled. and this wasn't handled that way. so i don't think, as i said from the beginning of this conversation, i don't think that this is a conversation that we should rush, but i think we have to be honest about it. and wherever the facts go, let them land. rachel: no. fair enough. pete: absolutely. well, lawrence and ainsley, you're going to be with us all morning long in both key locations. i want to thank you both for being up early and sticking with us. there's so much to get to to and so many angles as you both beautifully cover this morning. >> reporter: thank you. pete: it is an porn remind if per. it's one -- important reminder. it's one of the first things, the attempt here was to kill the former president. and it was half an inch from executing that plan which means the world we woke up in this morning would be completely -- it is already completely different. this changes everything. rachel: exactly. pete: imagine, however, if it had gone one inch the other direction. what kind of world we would be living in right now.

rachel: yeah. it would have -- the attempt was to kill the president but also to change the election and the course of history. because if there's one thing that we've been covering incessantly on this channel is donald trump account and the fact that there was nobody that we all know of in politics, in modern politics that can withstand what he has withstood even before this assassination attempt. the investigations, the impeachments, being accused of being a traitor and colluding with russia. you know, it goes on and on and on. and then you see this moment. last night newt gingrich was on sean hannity, is and here's what historical perspective, and here's what he had to say about it. >> i was very emotional a earlier with. i'm not sure i could have done television because i've known trump for about 30 years, so i'm watching a personal friend get shot in front of me. it was a very intimate moment for millions of americans.

and it was a providential moment. he had turned to look at that a big screen, and when he was turned, the bullet would have hit him here. when he turned back, it hit him here. that's how close he came to being killed, and i think we need to understand that. this was providential, and he reacted appropriately. rachel: yeah. it's a miracle. pete: providential. rachel: it's a miracle. and i told you guys earlier with, i'm thinking more people pray over him, literally put their hands over him. there are many pictures of him the oval office and at many events where before this people will pray over him. there is a protective shield over him -- pete: loved what you said about the physical the city of it too when you were talking to dr. siegel. ultimately, what it took to endure all of that gives you a sense of -- rachel: yeah, who he is. will: our next guest was at the rally when the shots rang out and joins us now. gene kno know, thanks -- gino,

thanks for being with us this morning. >> thanks for having me. will: would love to hear your perspective. where were you and what did you experience? >> before i do that, i want to say one thing. you know, for -- everybody's mentioned it this morning, and for the last seven years my first time on "fox & friends" was about seven years ago. that morning trump saw me on your show, i was on the stage, i met with the guy. this guy is doing can more for the american people than anybody knows. i want to demand as an american citizen that we have a july 13th committee. to investigate. the instigating of -- they want to say that trump instigated january 6th? i want to say they instigated the assassination if attempt of our president. it shouldn't, it should not be allowed to stand. everybody knows the names, pelosi, aoc and the rest of them. because what i have to live for, what i saw yesterday for the rest of my life, it's their fall. it's their rhetoric.

now, i'm sorry. i had to say that. because i'm tired and i'm an angry american this morning. i'm sorry. pete: well, no, you speak for a lot of people. and, gene know, we will have that conversation and that date, you're right, july 13th will be a date burned in our brain like september 11th, like october 7t- >> it's in my brain. pete: you were there. share with us -- >> i was. pete: -- what you experienced. >> listen, it was a regular trump rally. begot there, i took my cousin with me. she hadn't been to a rally that size ever. we were there about 5 hours early standing in 90-degree weather and having a ball. there was people from all over, people from maryland. i live about an hour away. one gentlemenman i'm sick about, he had a vip pass, and i said, oh, you're going to get to sit behind the president. he goes, yeah, i'm not going to go back for a little bit. i pray to to god it wasn't the guy i met yesterday.

it's horrible that anybody died, but this guy was so excited just to be on tv to stand behind the former president of the united states. and look what it got him. minute died. people were -- somebody died. people were critically injured, and they tried to kill trump. we're standing there, trump came out to his regular music, the ymca, he come out and the crowd went nuts. he started into his spiel. he put up a chart about immigration, and then, i mean, it's been 4th of july. we've been hearing fireworks. people thought the they were fireworks. live fire were ar-15, i knew they were gunshots. immediately, everybody went down on the ground. i put my if hands on my cousin's shoulders, stay down, stay down. i was looking around because you don't believe what goes through your head when you hear gunshots like that in a crowd. i'm thinking las vegas, they're going to start shooting everybody. i'm looking around, but

immediately i see trump go down and i thought, oh, my god, they killed him. rachel: wow. >> and i was pretty upset. then the president stands up and puts his fist in the air, and everybody started screaming usa, usa. and it was, he was okay. and then immediately i said, you know, they shot at him, there's somebody behind him that's not in good shape, there that has to be. we saw two life flight helicopters came in. what amazed me was there was an anger in the crowd, but there was no panic, there wasn't anybody running, but there was an anger. everybody couldn't believe what they just saw. i think they were shocked. and the fact that he got up, you know, it made everybody feel better, but it was just, it's in my mind forevernow. i mean, you know, i'm not a weak

person, but i can't believe that they did that to him. and i point the finger at the people who have been trying to red -- ridicule him for seven years, over seven years. they tried their russian collusion, they tried their phony phone calls. then they go with the banking, the stripper and everything else. well, they should be held responsible because they called him everything but hitler, and they might have even called him hitler, and i hate saying that name. they say he's going to be the next -- he wants to be a dictator, he's never going to leave if he gets back in. here's a guy that goes to work, doesn't need any of this, none of it. had a beautiful life. he is actually working for the american people. i don't care if you're a republican, democrat, independent, black, white, hispanic or martian, you have to see what's going on, people. you have to wake up, and you have to realize what they're doing to this country. and there's one guy who's going to save it s and they tried to kill him yesterday, and i had to watch.

will: yeah, g irk no, the reports are right now that the shooter is 20 years old. there's a lot of details and a lot of facts that have to come out about his motivation, but it didn't escape my attention that, basically, donald trump has been on the public scene for this shooter's, half of his life. he's been raised in a climate where he's been hearing that donald trump is a dictator, would be authoritarian, a nazi, a wannabe hitler. he is, at the very least, we know grown up in an environment where with that's everyday rhetoric. >> oh, absolutely. will: whether or not that played a role, we'll see when it comes to this shooter, but there's no doubt that's the environment. and, you know, i can hear the emotion in your voice this morning about what you experienced there in the crowd, and it's really, it resonates, you know? if the emotion as much as any words that you're sharing. and i'm just curious more about that, like the roller coaster you must have been on in those few minutes.

>> it was, well, i'm telling you, i went from telling my cousin no matter how many time it is i see him, i still get goose bumps because of what he's doing for america. it really is, and how they attack him. i'm in his corner, you know what i'm saying? i literally said i got goose bumps. i'm 61 years old, i'm acting like i'm a 12-year-old girl, i'm getting goose bump, you know what i mean? because that's how excited i was. and that crowd, everybody around me. and i shared some photos with people in the crowd from when i was on the stage with him and everybody was so excited to see him. and then to have this? it's just, look, this guy's loved. it's not just for who he is, it's for what he's doing for people. and, believe me, if there's not a landslide this election for this president, if people don't wake up, i don't know what we can do. i call many of the other networks the committee to elect joe biden, and they're just as culpable in this. they spent two weeks trying to

guarantee us or tell us if he can get through this press conference by himself, he's good to be president for four years. are you kidding he? take a bullet and then wave to the crowd and get up. let me see him do that. rachel: yeah. >> they're lying to the american people, and it's disgusting me. again, i said i didn't sleep last night, and i don't know when i'm going to go back to sleep. i'm so angry, and i try not to get angry. rachel: well, i think -- >> it's eating me, and i can't stand it anymore. i don't know what to do. we can't have this. rachel: i think, geno, you're channeling the anger of a lot of americans, not just those atta rally. before i let you go, can i ask you one question about the scene? if did you see drones overhead while you were in the crowd? >> no. no if, and i thought that was odd. i told my cousin, i said there's no drones, there's -- you'd the there'd be a drone filming it or something or security. but i saw the two guys on the rooftop. i was looking at the stage, so they were on the rooftop to the

right, the snipers or whatever. and she goes, oh, what's that? i go, those are our guys. this was all before anything happened. rachel: yeah. thank you, geno -- pete: geno, great insight. >> we've got to get better. thanks, guys. rachel: thanks, geno. pete: god bless. he referenced the anger in the crowd right after. normally a chaotic moment like that it's fear and shock and chaos, and it almost immediately flipped watching it beyond the 2-minute clip that we shared. there was just sheer anger in the crowd because there was a sense of they did it. we had this fear that this would happen -- rachel: and then they said usa, usa. will: as i mentioned, it's because this is a culmination of a sense of inevitability. we all know the world we've been living in for a decade when it comes to the reaction the donald trump. and it just felt like this, sadly, was an inevitability, and you would respond angry, you know, if you could see this coming. pete: it's the feeling i had.

shock and then it was, like, oh, my goodness. what were other reactions? there was reaction from his political opponent, joe biden reacted last night to the attempted assassination. here he is. >> there's no place in america for this kind of violence. it's sick. it's sick. it's one of the reasons why we have to write this country. we cannot allow for this to be happening. we cannot be like this. we cannot condone this. rachel: so joe biden put out his statement right there, but obama put out his first. in that statement, by the way, he said that violence is inappropriate. i had people write me saying they didn't like that in his statement he referred to the former president, donald trump, as a donald -- as donald twice. people felt that was disrespectful. here's the statement that obama put out before joe biden said his statement. obama put his on x, and he said

there's absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy, although we don't know yet exactly what happened, we should all be relieved that former president trump wasn't seriously hurt and use this moment to recommit if ourselves to civility and respect in our politics. will: and bill clinton wrote on x, violence has no place in america especially in our political process. hillary and i are thankful that president trump is safe, heart broken for all those affected by the attack at today's rally in pennsylvania and grateful for the swift action of the u.s. secret service. pete: and here's a statement from president george w. bush. he said laura and i are grateful that president trump is safe following the cowardly attack on his life. and we commend the men and women of the secret service for their speedy response. will: those are all men that know what it is to be surrounded by secret service and, i'm sure, to be at the center of any threats to their lives as the leaders of the united states of america. here was the threat, the attempt at assassination, again, to

reset this morning if you're just waking up. here are the full, unedited two minutes of what happened last night at a rally for donald trump. >> -- take a look at what happened -- [gunfire] [background sounds] if -- >> what are we doing? what are we doing? >> fire, fire, fire! [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> hold, hold -- are you ready, on you? >> move! >> hawkeye's here. >> we ready? [inaudible conversations] >> we're good. >> shooter's down. are we good to move? if?

>> are we clear? >> let's move. we're clear! [inaudible conversations] >> let me get my shoes. >> i got you, sir. >> hold on to -- >> sir, we've got to move to the car. [inaudible conversations] [background sounds] usa! usa! usa! usa! usa! usa! usa! [inaudible conversations]

[background sounds] if -- [inaudible conversations] rachel: so there it is, you guys, the two and a half, three minutes that everyone around the world is talking about, and we are glad that we can show it. throughout the morning, we've been letting you see that just raw footage because it is remarkable. and as we keep saying -- pete: these are new photos. look at the size of that crowd. rachel: -- the it's history in the making and a moment that could have turned history. last night when i saw donald trump fight off the secret service to to fist bump, i put on social media that this was his braveheart moment. there's something remarkable about his reaction to it. dana perino, friend of our show, had this to say about trump's

reaction after being almost assassinated. >> thank god he is okay. if i'm very, very upset for the supporters of him who are injured or even lost their lives. i do think that president trump 's instincts were absolutely incredible. he decided to show everybody that was there not just -- he knew in the moment that he was, all eyes of the world are on him, and he showed the world strength. and it was like watching a warrior president. pete: she's right. will: it did. pete: very well said. will: these are pictures that are coming in from dan sca a vino from the rally. there's a lot of context. first of all, the is size of the crowd, gigantic. you can see the elevated stands throughout. i don't know yet exactly, i don't know that any of us know,

jump in you do exactly the location of the person that lost their life. so i do think they were in a set of elevated stands based upon pictures that i've seen carried out. there's gruesome images being carried out and some blood in those stands. and then you can see that there's now what in my humble estimation might be an election-swinging photo, should be a pulitzer prize-winning photo, an iconic photo of donald trump raising his fist, blood on his face with the american flag behind him, you can see the american flag on the cranes that are over him if that picture is taken full or zoomed out, there is an american flag suspended from those cranes in these photos -- pete: no doubt. rachel: "the new york times," by the way, in their cover picture, managed to cut out that flag. which i think the flag -- there's something kind of iwo jima about this whole image if you get the full perspective, and maybe our producers can do

that, of the flag and the people around him and sort of donald trump's defiant fist up there on stage. pete: yeah, we thought the mug shot would be the defining photo of -- rachel: oh, no. good-bye, mug shot, hello -- pete: hello warrior president moment. will, those photos -- there it is right there. it is a shot for the ages. and those photos of the crowd -- we take for granted the size of that crowd at this point. this is ahead of the rnc. he's about to -- we don't have the estimate on that, 20, 30,000. i mean, there's a reason these rallies are held outside, because there's nowhere in butler, pa, where you could gone town a crowd this size -- contain a crowd this size. so it does create vulnerabilities as a result. you're at a fairgrounds, 1300 meters -- 130 meters away is very close with a basic off the shelf scope.

you sight that in easily. and with any training, you can hit a human head with ease from that distance. i mow the secret service is scanning out to even further horizons, and there's a threat and understanding of even further shots they're probably focused on. but based on what we're getting from the ground, that there were people trying to agitate and say we see someone on a roof and there wasn't an immediate response and at least sounds like eight shots came up, i'm texting with somebody who was there. we might have him later on on the show. he said one person shot in the head and one in the abdomen right behind him, and he was not in an elevated position. there were also people in elevated positions potentially shot. rachel: pete, the man who you said was the man who was trying to -- saw the gunman if on the roof, tried to alert, he said, for several minutes secret service and police that there was somebody on on the roof with a rifle, he was there because he couldn't get in.

that's how big the demand was. he was outside of the perimeter of this rally. some people who were just trying to listen, because it was, i mean, as big as that a crowd is, there was still people trying to get in. i don't know how you guys feel, when we had the last guest on who was an eyewitness to in this, i'm still in shock that he did not see drones overhead. will: yeah. i don't know how common that is or or the protocol are from a security standpoint on the use of drones, but continue to ask that question as a well. dana marine nichol joins us from palm beach where supporters were seen gathering last night near trump's home at mar-a-lago. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. that's right. as that news quickly spread in the surrounding area of mar-a-lago, it quickly filled up with a sea of red, white and blue supporters trying to get as close as they possibly could to the home of our former president. let's get to video of that scene last night. the causeway where i'm standing

in palm beach was lined with dozens of those supporters with large u.s. flags and signs for former president donald trump. some said they weren't even surprised at trump's defiance right after the incident. >> i say fire, fire, fire -- >> i saw him put his fist up that he's still here -- [background sounds] >> god bless him. i don't know if i could have done it. what a brave, courageous man. >> reporter: and folks here not only brought their usual flags and honks as you just saw, they joined in hands in prayer for the quick recovery of former president trump. if now, the last time we saw him was last night as he exited his plane in new jersey to head to his other home in bedminster. and, of course, back out here live this morning, we've heard some honks. we haven't seen any crowds gathering but, of course, we're going to keep an eye on that as the morning progresses.

will: thank you so much. pete: let's bring back in ainsley earhart who is with us in bedminster and lawrence jones who is in butler, pa. ainsley, you're there where donald trump is. i don't know if all of his family is there as well, but i want to share a quick statement from donald trump jr. who posted with a photo of trump with his fist in the air, the photo we were just talking about. donald trump jr. posted he'll never stop fighting to save america. and that iconic photo we were talking about. will: and we're going to share the reaction of numerous family members including eric trump who posted on x, never surrender. rachel: interesting, because the mug shot was supposed to be the iconic shot, but this one is now. ivanka trump the on x saying i'm grateful to the secret service and all other law enforcement officers for their quick and decisive actions today. i continue to pray for our country. i love you, dad. today and and always.

pete: and finally, tiffany trump on x, the outpour being of love and support for my dad is deeply appreciated. thank you, god, for keeping my father alive. political violence is never the answer. ainsley, so the family, obviously, pointing to a lot of things, the secret service but, ultimately, god, for the reason their father's alive. >> yeah. they're so, you know, there's so many layers to this because they're grateful to the secret service. barron was concerned last night and melania was concerned. he was home do comfort them and make sure they were okay. we were told that he was comforting other people and joking around, he was in really good spirits, but also they do want an investigation. james comer has called for that. that will begin very quickly. he wants that that to start this week, to talk to the secret service, the director of the secret service, to find out what went wrong here and why this gentleman was allowed on the roof. you know, you think, i heard first that this guy was on top

of a building, and i thought a tall building. you know, we've all watched the jfk videos. but when you see this video, it was just a warehouse. it was not very tall. he was visible. people there saw him and warned law enforcement. there's so many questions there. i do know the president, back at the white house. he did have a briefing last night from ken cheadle, director of secret service, mayorkas, the a.g., mr. garland, jake sullivan, christopher wray and liz sherwood randall from homeland security, and today he's going to receive another updated briefing. there is a prayer vigil today at 10 a.m. join us to pray, register, chase the vote. that's at viedler park in milwaukee. we're all scheduled to go to the convention, and we were all asking is this convention going to continue, is it going to happen? well, the campaign and the rnc said, definitely. in this will go on. they will proceed. as was communicated earlier this

evening, president trump is doing well can and grateful to law enforcement and first responders. president trump looks forward to joining you all in milwaukee as we proceed with our convention to nominate him to serve as the 47th president of the united states with. as our party's nominee, president trump will continue to share his vision to make america great again. now, president trump, one last thing. president trump repeatedly asked for more secret service. he wanted more security. and the biden team, don't you remember, they even tried to cut off his secret service detail for a while. and they -- i know that rfk jr. has repeatedly asked for secret service detail. he lost his dad, he lost his uncle, and he was denied that. so this is something i think needs to be investigated and looked at. if you're a former president, if you're running for president, you need to be secure, and we're seeing the signs of that today. rachel: -- that you're bringing that up. that is a piece of the story. there have been, there has been evidence and people have talked about donald trump and his team

requesting more security. and if as we've talked about on the couch, he's the most famous man in the world, the most likely candidate for an assassination attempt. everybody here has thought about that, and it's remarkable not only that he didn't get more, but that there was a contingency of democrats led by a congressman who was the head of the j6 committee who actually were trying to remove all of his secret service detail on account that he was a convicted felon. unbelievable. so thank you for reporting on that as well. >> reporter: thank you, rachel. will: and, lawrence, let's turn to you now. we're lucky to have you there the in butler, pennsylvania, where the rally and assassination attempt took place last night. one with of the things that's come up, lauren, and earlier in the -- lawrence, and earlier in the show you pointed out ec till see the american flag. one of the things that's come up is the difficulty to secure this location. there was a bit of surprise here

on the couch, i think i heard you echo it as well, that that rooftop was not secured. we had a former secret service agent on who said you really can't tell the scope of what they had to secure from perhaps our aerial photo. i'm curious what you've seen, lawrence. are there a lot of rooftops out there beyond what we see, you know? how, how much is there in terms of infrastructure, buildings and rooftops to try to lock down? >> reporter: no. no, there isn't. but i almost feel like that point is also moot -- [laughter] because it's a part of the job. and, you know, pete can speak to this. i know people that have to secure buildings that don't have the authority on foreign land to shut down buildings so people can't get in them as well, and the excuse would never be i could not surveil that building

because i have too many buildings within my if scope. i don't think it's a reasonable response to what happened yesterday. and, look, i'm right out here. there's not that many buildings that the they would have had to, just from a level standpoint where there could be a sniper, there's not a lot of those buildings there that are within that sight. so i think the more concerning thing too is not -- i mean, we're going to talk later on in the show about the mechanics and different things they should have done when they got the president if off the stage. but the fact that there has been this national call from law enforcement of when you see something, say something, and the fact that you had citizens say something and nothing was done, it just reminds me. you know, this has become a thing of mine if now that i'm at a every single shooting, mass shooting that has happened. and at every single one that i've reported on whether it was uvalde or in tennessee, we can

go down the list, someone said i knew something about that person, i reported and nothing was done. or someone was on the radar and nothing was done. this is even more egregious because you had citizens that were saying i see a guy climbing up a building. i see a guy with a rifle and no one did anything until it was too late, guys. rachel: 7:05. pete: lawrence, are there people still there? are you actively seeing agents on the scene? >> reporter: well, i can't see any from this visual, i mean, we're pushed back. the state troopers are essentially securing the entrance and making sure no one can go in. i don't -- i mean, from this vantage point i don't see agents surveying the scene, collecting evidence and everything like that. there's a bit of a dew here

that's on, a little mist if as well. it's starting to come up a little bit. so, you know, obviously you always think about the preservation of evidence, but one of the things that they're going -- law enforcement's going to have to do if they haven't already, and i hope that they have already started this process, they're going to have to recreate what took place yesterday and figure out exactly what the holes were. and, look, these type of conversations, whenever you do something wrong, i mean, we as anchors sometimes make mistakes on air, and we have to rewatch the video to see the certain mistakes so we don't keep repeating them. and it's a humbling thing, and i know it's a painful thing to go through, but it is essential for these agents to recreate this scene so they can figure out exactly what took place and why they missed it -- [laughter] to me, guys, to me -- and, again, i'm not assigned to

protecting the president. but, you know, as someone that trains military dogs, i get my ass kicked all the time by them about certain mechanic issues, and i'm seeing federal agents that are doing the same thing that i get my tail kicked for when i'm training, that's concerning to me. rachel: yeah. >> reporter: there seemed to be no muscle memory when they were drawing their weapons and putting them away. i know the former president wanted to to grab his hat and grab his shoe, but as agents, your job is to protect him. he's a politician now. he's a man of the people. he's going to raise his fist up, but you need to secure him. i also have a lot of problems with the people that were surrounding him. there's a reason why there's a certain9 category of people that are door kickers and are in a stack when it's time to go in and do hostage rescue or take out a subject. what i saw surrounding the president yesterday doesn't inspire confidence.

so they need to regroup. and whether it needs to be a commission or whatever the hell they need to figure out what they're going too,ed but they need to, they need to get answers for the american public very fast because we're tiahrting now, guys. rachel: all right. well -- >> reporter: people's worst fears happened yesterday. will: well -- rachel: no question about it, lawrence. no question about it. the things you saw are concerning people, and they do need to be investigated, and we hope it happens rapidly. ainsley and lawrence, thank you so much for your reports. excellent. >> reporter: you're welcome. rachel: you got it. pete: you think about the amount of time that it was -- this is just as significant as, say, the assassination of jfk. rachel: yeah. pete: obviously, that one was successful. praise god, this one was not. but the amount of recreation that has gone into that event which still raises questioned today, this investigation needs to be as transparent, as swift,

as clean, as clear as possible from local law enforcement, to secret service, to the fbi. in the middle of a campaign with a political opponent, a former president, every aspect of it needs to be aboveboard and honesty needs to be -- and we need to be honest. i think that's what lawrence said right there. who's defending the president. is it the best, or is it some new policy inside the secret service? it's crazy. and another detail is this -- we all saw it right away, on bbc a witness came out speaking to a bbc reporter and said, hey, i saw someone crawling on that roof. here's a portion of what was said. >> we noticed a guy crawling army, you know, bear crawling on the roof of the building beside us, 50 feet away from us. so we're standing there, and, you know, we're pointing at the guy crawling up the roof. >> and he had a gun, right? >> he had a rifle. we could clearly see him with a

rifle, absolutely. we're pointing at him. the police are down there running around on the ground. we're like, hey, man, there's a guy on the roof with a rifle. and the police were like, huh? what? you know, they didn't know what was going on. we're like, hey, right here on the roof, we can see him right here, we see him, you know? he's crawling. and next thing you know, i'm, like, i'm thinking to myself why is trump still speaking, why have they not pulled him off the stage. i'm standing there pointing at him for, you know, two, three minutes, secret service is looking at us from the top of the barn. i'm pointing at that roof just standing there like this, and next thing you know five shots ring out. >> you're certain that the shots came from that guy on the roof. >> 100%. >> and he was up there for a couple of minutes, you saw him up there for a couple of minute- >> absolutely. at least three or four minutes -- >> and you were telling police and the secret service. >> yep. we were telling police, we were

pointing -- secret service was with looking at us the whole time when we were standing by that tree. >> could they see him? >> probably not because of the roof, he was behind where they could see. but why is there not secret service on all of these roofs here? i mean, this is not a big place. if. will: a lot of fascinating details right there. -- pete: very important clip. rachel: very important. will: the 3-4 minutes that he warned them is of paramount importance. the last little bit, could secret service have seen him, probably not. that gives you, pitch on the roof -- pete: reverse slope. rachel: but his response was great, why weren't they on the roof? if. will: oh, yeah, but just filling in the gaps -- rachel: of course. will: it's interesting to note perhaps as we're learning from that sniper spot position that we're looking at, it would have been difficult to see that shooter. we're still learning the details. but, yes. to the witness' point, 3-4 minutes to investigate is plenty

of time to get somebody up on the roof. rachel: and he said, why wasn't the president pulled off? james comer or is saying he's going to bring in director kimberly cheadle who's the director of the secret service. how about they bring in greg smith as well, this eyewitness who was remarkel -- rehab mark, and detailed and trying to alert secret service and saw is it all happening minutes before secret service? pete: yeah. i'm getting some reaction from folks very, very close to the president just saying this is negligence. what happened is absolute negligence. and people who know his security detail, have a lot of respect for that security detail just pointing out letting someone with a rifle up on a roof less than 200 yards is bleeping negligence, you know? i've sort of said this this morning too, 130 yards with an ar-style rifle with an awful the shelf -- off the shelf scope for anyone with training that's dialed in is an easy shot. it's not -- with the scopes

these days, it is only by the grace of god, and it is negligence. it's not a mistake, not an accident. someone was totally over their skis or out of their scope to allow that type of -- even if it's on the reverse side of a roof? 3-4 minutes, i probably don't buy that. time is always muddled -- will: yeah, that's fair. pete: but any notification, pointing were those snipers not willing to shoot because they were concerned about a preemptive shot? we don't know, but an investigation better bring it to the -- rachel: yeah. i hope they do haul in kimberly cheadle very quickly. she is the head of secret service. don't move because we have more coverage straight ahead. dad is a legend. and his legendary moves might be passed down to you. get ancestrydna and see which traits were inherited, where they came from, and who you share them with. discover what makes you legendary with ancestrydna.

(vo) you've had thyroid eye disease for a long time. and you've lived with the damage it caused. but even after all these years, restoration is still possible. learn how at tedhelp.com. introducing mylowe's rewards. the new way to unlock savings from the palm of your hand. with every purchase, all loyalty members earn points toward mylowe's money. plus you get free gifts and free shipping. the all-new mylowe's rewards program is here. download the app to join, earn and save today. it's pods biggest sale of the summer. save up to 25% on moving and storage for a limited time. and see why pods has been trusted with over 6 million moves. but don't wait, use promo code big25 to save. visit pods.com today.

here's why you should switch fo to duckduckgo on all your devie duckduckgo comes with a built-n engine, like google, but it's r and doesn't spy on your searchs and duckduckgo lets you browsel but it blocks cookies and creepy ads that follow youa and other companies.

and there's no catch. it's fre. we make money from ads, but they don't follow you aroud join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on all your devices today. pete: we're back with a fox news alert. if you're just joining us this hour, it is truly a historic morn