♪♪ ♪♪ this sunday, shots fired.

>> get down! get down! >> former president donald trump injured and rushed off the stage at a campaign rally in pennsylvania after an apparent assassination attempt. >> this evening we had what we're calling an assassination attempt against our former president donald trump. >> the man beside me suffered a gun shot wound to the head, was instantly killed. >> somebody got shot, like, this close to where we were. >> the threat of political violence now looming over the election. >> there's no place in america for this kind of violence. it's sick. it's sick. everybody, everybody must condemn it. >> how will the 2024 political campaign change. my guest this morning republican congressman dan muser of pennsylvania. republican senator lindsay graham of south carolina. biden campaign national co-chair, senator chris coons of delaware and independent senator bernie sanders of vermont.

joining me for insight and analysis are nbc news washington managing editor carol lee. charles benson from our nbc affiliate and the convention city of milwaukee. former white house press secretary jen psaki and lahnee chen, a fellow at the hoover institution. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> from nbc news in washington the longest-running show in television history, this is "meet the press" with kristen welker. good sunday morning. the nation is waking up to a new reality after former president donald trump was injured in an apparent assassination attempt that left one person dead and two others critically injured. the suspected gunman was killed by the secret service. here is the horrifying moment as it happened. >> take a look at what happened -- [ shots fired ] >> get down! get down!

[ shots fired ] >> let me get my shoes. >> sir, we have to get you -- >> let me get my shoes. >> watch out. wait. wait. >> the former president posted, quote, i was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. i knew immediately that something was wrong and that i heard a whizzing sound. shots and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. this video shows the body of the alleged shooter on the roof of the building just 150 yards from where mr. trump was speaking. >> we are hearing pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, and then everybody's on the ground. everybody's on the floor. >> he had a rifle. we could clearly see him with a rifle. absolutely. >> if he had not moved his head

at that nick of time it could have been a lot worse. >> the man beside me suffered a gun shot wound to the head, was instantly killed. i'm honestly shocked this didn't happen earlier. >> i was anticipating to be another unbelievable night, but not this way. >> new york times photographer doug mills captured the moment when it appears to be a bullet on the right side of the image passing the former president's ear. a spokesman for the secret service says the suspected shooter fired multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position outside the rally venue. overnight former president trump landing in new jersey walked off his plane. early this morning the fbi which is now leading an investigation involving the secret service, atf, state and local law enforcement identified the alleged gunman as thomas matthew crooks, 20 years old, of bethel park, pennsylvania. >> this evening we had what we're calling an assassination

attempt against our former president donald trump. it's still an active crime scene, as i mentioned we have a number of agents on scene. we also are working closely with other federal agencies our state partners and local police partners, as well. >> president biden was briefed on the shooting after leaving church on saturday and spoke out, condemning political violence. >> 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 unite this country. we cannot allow dpr this to be happening. we cannot condone this. this morning on the "today" show, republican speaker mike johnson also weighed in. >> we have to turn the rhetoric down. we have to turn the temperature down in this country and we need leaders on all parties on both sides to call that out. no figure in american history at least in the modern era since

lincoln who has been so vilified and persecuted by media and hollywood elites and political figures and even the legal system. we are covering all of the angles of this developing story and we begin with nbc news correspondent dasha burns who was at the rally when the shooting happened. she joins us now from butler, pennsylvania. dasha, we are also grateful that you are safe. walk us through what happened in the very latest there. >> kristen, you and i and our colleagues, unfortunately, we've all covered shootings as part of this job. that's become a sadly familiar assignment. weigh raced to the scene of the tragedy and the aftermath and was far less familiar as witnessing the moments of the tragedy first hand and that's what my team and i experienced last night and i'll tell you from our vantage point what happened and we were on the press rises which were positioned on the enter of the venue as usual just behind the seated section of the audience.

we were actually finishing up filming a standup as the president began his speech, again, all as usual. my producer bianca and i started to walk down the stairs from the riser just to grab our laptops when we suddenly heard those loud, cracking pops that are now so familiar from the video that we were playing from the devastating moment. we initially thought it was fireworks and sometimes president events have pyrotechnics and when mr. trump stopped speaking we took cover behind some stage equipment thinking it was just a precaution and we experienced the sort of rapid roller coaster of emotion alongside the crowd. it went from standard political event. people were cheering, buying merchandise and food, dancing to the song "ymca" which often comes on right before the former

president makes his entrance. it went from that to confusion and chaos as those sounds rang out and then fear set in when we realized this could actually begun shots, something we never imagined. we were still taking cover when we heard those cheers from the crowd that you can hear from the video as the former president raised his fist into the air and was taken by secret service. in those moments for anyone who wasn't front and center who saw people get injured, one, unfortunately, ultimately cleared. it wasn't immediately clear to us how dangerous and deadly the situation was. so some people in the crowd be goon leave the scene and others stuck around and we got back up on the press riser, and reunited with our crew which was thankfully safe and we began reporting live. one thing that struck me in those moments. it was after that that some people in the crowd started to come to the risers and they started to get heated to the press and this struck me as i

was thinking back to these moments because we were thinking about the division and polarization which was an inevitable part of the story and this crowd started gathering around the media and started blaming the press and some screaming at journalists and get aggressive. emotions were running high in that moment and it was a kay on the chaotic scene and we were ultimately told to leave the scene in the middle of our live report as secret service told us this was now an active crime scene. our crew had to abandon their gear. we made our way to the parking lot where there were thousands of cars that would ultimately take hours to get out of there and there was only one entry and exit point and it was a traffic jam as everyone was coming to grips with what happened that we spent hours speaking to witnesses. we were exchanging our stories, hearing their stories and trying to fill in the blanks and pretty quickly, a picture of total

horror emerged as we met people who witnessed the tragic death of one attendee, a man named joseph that i talked to was standing next to the gentleman who was killeded. he told me that man died on impact and he helped carry the man's body away. people described watching the former president turn his head slightly to point to a screen just on stage, just as those first few bullets were getting fired and one woman telling me that potentially the lethal shot was missed by inches, maybe centimeters, and this morning the former president gave another update, addressing supporters on truth social writing it was god alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening, and we will fear not

and remain defiant and it is more important than ever that we stand united and show the true character as americans remaining strong and determined and not allowing evil to win. kristen? >> dasha burns, just an extroerd near what you witnessed and that could be a bit of a preview of what we might hear at the republican national convention and dasha burns, thank you for your extraordinary work there. don winter is an investigative correspondent. he's been up throughout the night talking to law enforcement officials, tom, what do we know at this hour? >> chris, what we know at this hour is that the word from law enforcement officials who have done their own independent investigation, from the investigation so far on the ground in pennsylvania, that it is unclear what this motive might have been from matthew crooks who was born in 2003. he appeared to have graduated from high school just several years ago.

we know that based upon voter registration records in pennsylvania he registered as a republican. he also donated $15 to a democratic cause so that's what we've seen there. we can find no criminal history on this individual, no sign of civil lawsuits and we checked for that because sometimes people file suit against individuals and it helps get insight into their mindset and for a 20-year-old male in america, he has an incredibly low online social media presence. there are these different chat rooms that are out there and some dark crevices of the internet. we don't have all of the answers yet and that's something that obviously federal investigators and the fbi in particular will be focused on. i think understandably, given the fact this this shooting happened and it was an attempted assassination of the former president of the united states and the presumptive nominee, and it's a formality at this point, as you well know that folks are

focused on, what is the political motive here and in law enforcement circles they have to examine everything from did this person have a particular interest from trump and were they driven about what's been said about trump and the politicians and was donald trump not conservative enough, just to show you the gamut of the different things that they have to look at, but we should note that it's not necessarily the motive if there's a political cause here. in other words, there could be another motive here as we saw with the attempted assassination of ronald reagan. that was motivated by the shooter there trying to impress somebody or impress a woman in that particular instance. we have to keep an open mind, that's what investigators are doing and that's what they should be doing and the fbi will just look, this is where the evidence is and this is where it's taken us. >> tom, such important context there. incredible reporting. thank you so much. >> president biden will receive a briefing from homeland security and law enforcement officials later this morning.

nbc news chief white house correspondent peter alexander joins me from the white house. peter, i know you've been talking to your sources throughout the night. what's the very latest there at the white house? >> kristen, we learned late last night that president biden and spormer president trump spoke hours after the shooting yesterday. right now we don't have any better details about that conversation. when the shooting took place, president biden was at mass near his home in delaware. we are told that when he learned about the assassination attempt was when he left and wanted to address the nation and among the briefing kimberly cheatel, the momentland security secretary and alejandro mayorkas. this morning the president is at the white house after publicly condemning the violence saying he is grateful mr. trump is doing well saying that country needed to unite. we should note a biden campaign official says that the campaign was pausing all outbound communications and working to take down its television ads as quickly as possible because of the seriousness of this moment.

as you noted, the president is to be briefed by his law enforcement team this morning a senior white house official telling us the rest of the day is fluid. so no indication whether or not we'll hear publicly from president biden again just yet. kristen? >> peter alexander for us at the white house. peter, thank you so much. joining me now is republican congressman dan muser of pennsylvania who was seated in the front row near trump at the rally last night when the shots broke out. congressman, welcome to "meet the press". >> thank you, kristen. nice to be with you. >> i really appreciate you being with us on what is a somber community for you, for your community and for this entire country. you obviously, as i said, were in the front row yesterday. you were near former president trump when this all unfolded. i do want to ask you about the events that you witnessed, but first, i want to ask you, how are you doing and how are those in your community holding up today? >> i'm fine.

certainly, there are a lot of people that are very upset. this is quite shocking. certainly at the rally people were very -- there was a lot of conversation, a lot of god blisses and how are yous as opposed to thinking about themselves which was pretty touching and throughout the evening and this morning. a lot of outreach from republican colleagues as well as democrat colleagues. i've heard from both sides who really, really feel terrible about this and want to do everything we can to keep it from occurring moving forward. >> absolutely. can you walk me through what you witnessed yesterday congressman as it occur when those shots rang out? >> dasha, your correspondent, dave a pretty good description. president trump came in, did the pre-rally speeches and got the crowd excited and you know --

just great people there for one reason to hear who they want to be their president, their leader talk about the great things that america should be. president trump did the pictures as he did, he was in enormously good spirits as he always tends to be. he came out, and it was no more than six or seven minutes as it was stated in his remarks when the shots rang out. i was standing with dave mckorm irk, my house colleague mike kelly and the committee person of pennsylvania and anyway, a bunch of people, of course, and the shots rang out and the first two, i really look at dave, and he looked at me, and we just looked around. we turned around. we knew where they were coming from and then my eyes just turned fast to the president, fixated on him and that's when he was hit and he -- he hit the deck. it didn't look like he went down

from the shot, but he hit the deck and put his hand up to his head and i was thinking the worst, and so you get a surge of anger, of frustration, of wanting to do something. so we were trying to get over the barrier and then, of course, the secret service was on it, immediately. they deserve all kinds of credit and they surrounded the president and i will tell you this. it was kay on theic. people were upset and people were screaming and it was controlled particularly when president trump put up his fist and let everybody know that he was okay, and i think that was a sign to everyone that they would be okay, as well. >> you know, you said something in the beginning of this conversation which is, of course, the question becomes how to prevent this from happening again. obviously, we are about to have the republican national convention this coming week, the democratic national convention in august. our political rhetoric in this

country, undoubtedly, we have discussed this has gotten quite heated at times. what do you think, what would you like to see happen, congressman, to try to prevent something like this from happening again, to lower the temperature, quite frankly right now? >> yeah. well, this individual, we'll get to the bottom of it and we don't know if he has mental illness or what his disfunction is or if there were red flags prior to that. we have to do a better job in that regard, but look, the overall atmosphere, the environment and there was plenty of blame to go around. on the same note, i was listening to mike johnson a little bit earlier speak, and he had stated how this president just gets vilified, president trump, i mean. there's just from fascism to hitler to dictator to -- and frankly, none of it's true.

that's not what our constitution's about, that's not what our laws are about. so i can easily point that out, but i'm willing to state at the same time we all need to take a responsibility to cool things down, to say what we mean, but don't say it mean, to not get personal, to have dialogue rather than -- rather than attacks and -- from the words i got, i heard from president biden and the words i've gotten from fellow members and primarily democrats i heard from governor josh shapiro immediately as i was leaving. hey, what happened? what can we do? do we have enough state troopers who did a wonderful job, as well. just really, sincerely caring about correcting this to the best of our abilities. >> congressman meuser, thank you so much, our thoughts are with you, your community and

obviously everyone who was injured and the precious life that was lost there yesterday at that rally. we really appreciate your joining us. >> thank you, kristen, very much. >> thank you. when we come back, republican senator lindsay graham of south carolina joins me next. (vo) a law partner rediscovers her grandmother's artistry and establishes a charitable trust to keep the craft alive for generations to come.

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worse, and i love you. you know, we're supposed to wake up this morning at 8:30. i talked to him three times this week. there was a lot going on in the world. he was excited about playing golf. he thought he had something that could help my swing. all i can say is he's got five children and five grandchildren. he's a human being. there are a lot of people that love this man. he's one of the most strong people i've ever met. he has an ability to absorb punishment like anybody i've ever met. obviously, god is not through with president trump, and i look forward to seeing him later this morning and i'll let you know how he's doing, but for the country, we probably need to do some soul-searching as a nation. >> well, i want to follow up with you on that point, senator. i can see the emotion in your

eyes and i can hear it in your voice. can you tell us what your initial reaction was when you witnessed what happened, when you learned what had happened, when you understood that he came, quite frankly, within inches, if his head had turned in either direction, this could be a different conversation today, senator. >> i wish i could say i was surprised, but i've been worried about this for a very, very long time. you know, if he wins democracy is not going to end. he's not a fascist. he represents a point of view that millions share. the rhetoric is way too hot, but i was just grateful that he made it. i mean, fate stepped in, god -- the hand of god, call it whatever you like, but let's don't forget there is a man who lost his life by attending a political rally. he's dead. his life caved in. other people were hurt. who to blame? let's blame the shooter, but let's all try to do better.

i can tell you one thing about president trump. he is very determined to get this country back on track and his initial reaction after being shot will be an iconic moment in american history, literally bleeding from a gun shot wound he raised his fist, don't give up. keep going. >> there's a lot we can say and discuss about political rhetoric. i want to ask you very specifically about some of the responses we've seen and just get your reaction. senator j.d. vance, as you know, potential v.p. nominee said in the wake of the shooting, quote, today is not just some isolated incident. the central premise of the biden campaign is that president donald trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stop at all cost. that rhetoric led directly to president trump's attempted assassination. another said, quote, joe biden sent the orders. i want to get your take, senator because you are talking about where this country needs to go.

do you think -- do you have concerns that that type of rhetoric, drawing those conclusions so immediately could only fuel this moment and the tensions? >> yeah. well there's a lot of frustration on our side about the way president trump has been treated, but i'm just grateful today that he's alive. i mourn for the man who didn't make it, and you know, we'll have a chance here to talk about, you know, what's best for america, but let's just today be grateful that our former president, political nominee survived an assassination attempt and all try to do better here. i don't -- i don't want to -- i don't want to go down that road right now. >> fair enough, senator. i do want to ask you, because you, myself, so many others are about to head to milwaukee for the republican national convention where donald trump will officially become the republican am in me, and here we are in the middle of this 2024

election cycle. how do you think this moment, this horrific act of political violence, how will this impact the campaign more broadly? >> you know, it's very hard to say. president trump, i'll talk to him later in the days, determined to stay on schedule. he has yet to pick a vice president and that's an important pick. he wants somebody that is read owe day one that can help him win, that can grow the map. i think the republican base adores president trump. there will be a lot of love come his way, but i'm glad it see my democratic colleagues are saying really good things and you know, this is a moment where america's been traumatized and it's good to see. i'm glad president biden called him. there will be plenty of time to talk about politics, but today

we all just need to be grateful and mindful of how dangerous. how could this happen? how could somebody get within 130 yards of the president with a rifle? his secret service team around him, his personal team are great americans who are very brave, but when i thought of when he got up and raised his fist bleeding was teddy roosevelt. this was the toughest guy i think i've ever met. he's the modern version of teddy roosevelt, and it's just an amazing thing to be his friend and in his orbit, and i look forward to seeing him here soon. >> well, senator lindsay graham, we really appreciate your joining us again. our thoughts are with everyone were injured and as you so rightfully pointed out, the life that was lost yesterday that we mourn as a nation for. so thank you. thank you for all of your comments this morning. we appreciate it. when we come back, i will speak with independent senator rnie sandersbe

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"meet the press." >> thank you. >> thank you for being here on this somber sunday, senator. i'm wondering if you can give us your reaction to the events that unfolded in pennsylvania yesterday, and what you think needs to happen in this country to prevent this horrific, completely unacceptable act of political violence from ever happening again? >> kristen, thanks very much for allowing me to be with you today. first thought i think everybody in this country no matter what their political views, wishes president trump a rapid and speedy recovery and mourns the loss of those that are wounded and understands that political violence of any kind or shape or form is unacceptable, it is un-american, and we have to put an end to it. i think in this dramatic moment, it's time for all of us to take

a deep breath, remember what this country is about and what political campaigns are about and they're about serious discussions, of serious ideas as to how we address these serious problems facing this country. so let's use this moment, if there's any silver lining in this tragedy, it's to figure out how we go forward peacefully, constructively and intelligently. >> absolutely, senator. you, obviously, have been impacted by political violence yourself in 2017. that horrible moment when republican congressman steve scalise was shot at baseball practice. you came out and forcefully denounced what had happened upon learning that the suspected shooter had been a volunteer for your campaign. how does that experience inform how you think the country can move forward right now? >> well, let me also say that a couple of months ago my office

right here in burlington, vermont, i was not there at the moment, but there were seven staff members there was almost burned down by somebody who is in jail right now. seven people could have been burned alive, so, yeah, i am familiar with political violence in all its forms. the bottom line is what we need as a nation, what a democracy is about is not radical rhetoric. what it is about is a serious discussion of where we are as a nation and how we go forward. and in a certain way, kristen, politics should be kind of boring, you know? our health care system is disfunkal. how do we fix it? >> it's kind of a boring discussion, but we need a health care system that guarantees health care for all people and we have massive income and wealth inequality. maybe a boring discussion, and half of people in american society, so what we've got to see is serious discussion of serious issues and not this kind

of harsh rhetoric that we have heard for the last number of years. >> senator, you know, before all of this had happened i invited you to come on about your op ed and your perspective on the 2024 campaign. obviously, there has been a lot of discussion about whether president biden should pass the torch, whether he should be the standard bearer. in your op-ed you say enough of that discussion. it's time to put the divisions to rest about whether president biden should be the nominee. i wonder if you think this moment will impact that debate and if so, how? >> no, i don't. look, i don't. i think president biden is the strongest candidate the democrats have. i think he has a very, very effective record that he can run on. we are finally lowering the cost of prescription drugs and we are rebuilding our crumbling

infrastructure finally, and we are beginning to deal with the existential threat of climate change, and we've been trying to do our best to protect the woman's right to control her own body. it's a strong record, but what i have been critical of and i'm seeing good things and i've seen president biden speak on friday night and was really good. i think he talked about what he wants to do with a democratic congress in the first hundred days of his administration, and you know, when he talks about expanding social security, kristen, you know, we have half of our seniors in this country are living on less than $30,000 a year. we have to improve benefits and we do that by lifting the cap and we have millions of seniors who can't afford to go to a dentist and we have workers unable to join a union, we have to raise the minimum wage which is now 7.25 an hour to minimum wage. if he continues to talk about that i think he gets re-elected.

>> all right. senator sanders, you said something significant today that our politics, is your hope should be boring again. here's to that happening. i think everyone, no matter what their political perspectives can agree to that this morning. senator sanders, thank you very much for your perspective. i really appreciate it. >> thank you for having me. appreciate it. >> now i want to bring in democratic senator chris coons of delaware, a biden campaign co-chair, welcome back to "meet the press". >> thank you, kristen, it's good to be on with you on this somber morning. >> it is really great to have your perspective on this morning even though it is difficult for everyone. we heard the forceful, full-throated condemnation by president biden about this political violence saying it cannot be tolerated. this has to end. what do you think needs to happen moving forward and how might this horrific moment impact the 2024 campaign?

>> well, kristen, there have been too many close calls in the time that i've been in congress, as you referenced earlier there was the tragic day when steve scalise was shot, my close friend jeff flake and the conservative congressman came back to the capitol and i'll never forget standing with him and praying with him as he was in his baseball uniform and spattered with the blood of congressman scalise and congresswoman giffords, is and was a close friend and was shot in the head in a political event and speaker pelosi's husband paul was brutally beaten and hospitalized in an attempt at attacking her and last night, shocking event. by the grace of god, not a tragedy. we would be in a very different place this morning if there had been a different outcome. so, first, president biden did last night as he so often does, the things that i most hoped the

president would do. he was at church and was briefed. he called former president trump to wish him a full and speedy recovery. he went on national television to denounce political violence and urges to come together. he's pulled down campaign ads, and as you heard from congressman meuser and from senator graham and senator sanders, all of us are reaching out to each other in congress. as you know, i'm an active member of our senatorial prayer group that tries to not just lower the temperature, but to be role models to each other of how to respect each other as people, how to carry out the vision that president biden shared in his inaugural address that we would see each other not as enemies, but as political opponents as different views and we would speak toward each other and act toward each other in ways that are more respectful and more supportive and that's my prayer for the nation this morning. kristen. >> as you know, the republican national convention gets under

way on monday and the democratic national convention gets under way in august. what concerns do you have not only in terms of the rhetoric in this country, but from the security of both of those events as we prepare to head into this incredibly busy summer season? >> look, i am so grateful for the service of the state troopers and the secret service who protected president trump last night. so regretful for the loss of life at a political rally and as you put it, we need to be more concerned and more diligent than ever in ensuring that our two conventions and the rest of this presidential campaign comes off safely and securely. we went through as a nation of a period of political violence in the late '60s. i was a high school senior when there was an assassination attempt in president reagan's life, and as i mentioned there were two relatively recent,

vents and there has to be rhetoric and tone. i urge folks to get off of social media today and take some time with your family and reflect on who we are as a nation and who we want to be. part of the reason why i admire and support joe biden is his tone and his leadership as president has been geared toward trying to bring us together and as you heard from my friend and colleague senator graham, we have folks who feel strongly and deeply and positively about both presidential candidates. we need to get through both of these conventions with a more respectful and constructive tone and recognize as senator sanders said, that while we have huge issues at stake in this election, they need to be more boring and less troubling. >> all right. we'll leave it on that powerful note. senator coons, thank you so much for joining us today. we really appreciate it. and when we come back we'll have the very latest reaction from inside of former president trump's campaign ahead of the

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welcome back. the republican national convention gets under way

tomorrow and former president trump will officially become the republican party's nominee. nbc news senior capitol hill correspondent garrett haake is covering the trump campaign and joins me now. garrett, how will all of this impact the convention? >> well, kristen, in the short term the trump campaign is urging its employees to stay home today, and not go in to work from their office and they're ramping up security as they worry about what might happen next in all of this, but the message from the trump campaign and indeed from donald trump himself has been essentially that the show must go on and they intend to begin the convention tomorrow as planned. the four days of events, i am told by a senior official involved by mr. planning won't change structurally. broadly speaking, the plan that was in place saturday afternoon is still the plan for what we will see at this convention including their as yet secret plan to announce donald trump's running mate. that said, this official said and we know this is true, that the events of last night will

change the tone and tenor of this convention. we will see more emotional resonance, and i think you will see some of what you heard from senator graham and illusions from the teddy roosevelt-like figure and discussions of the photo as iconic. this is someone who has built their entire political identity as being a fighter and tougher than the other guy, and i expect a lot of that going forward in milwaukee. >> i anticipate we will, and i will see you there, garrett haake, thank you very much for your great reporting. we appreciate it. when we come back, how will the assassination attempt against donald trump change the 2024 campaign? our panel is next. [water flowing] [water flowing] [phone dings] oh my god. what? the host is coming back. (♪♪) [birds chirping] [phone dings] meanwhile, at a vrbo... oh my god. what?

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welcome back. the panel is here. nbc news washington managing editor, carol lee. charles benson, anchor and chief political reporter of our nbc station wtmj in milwaukee. former white house press secretary jen psaki, host of "inside with jen psaki," and lahnee chen, fellow at the hoover institution at stanford, university. thank you to all of you for being here on what we continue to say this throughout the morning, it is a heavy morning for our entire country. carol, i want to start with you. one of the things that struck me about the conversations that we've been having throughout the

morning is that everyone, all of the guests who we just spoke to had a very similar message that this has to stop, this can never happen again and that the country needs to find a way to lower the temperature on our politics. >> it was really striking, the one thing that everyone agreed on in your interview is republicans and democrats that this is a horrific moment in the country's history, and how does the country move forward? and you heard senator graham there saying that there needed to be soul-searching in the nation. you heard senator coons say that this was time to take the tone down in our politics, and i think the question is how long that lasts, and whether the country is ready to do that because this is all playing out against the backdrop of a political campaign in front of of a deeply divided country. >> i think you are absolutely right. that is the question and jen, in fact, we've already seen the finger-pointing begin. some people even blaming

president biden. we heard that very forceful condemnation by president biden of what happened. as someone who used to work with the president, what are you anticipating in terms of -- he's obviously pulled his political ads and as carol said how long does this moment last and how do you think he sees his role right now? >> i mean, i think his role -- i'm betting that how he responded was as a human being which is how we just saw lindsay graham at moments during that interview and senator sanders and senator coons respond. that's how everyone should be responded and for everyone who has a mrit platform and you are feeding into the danger and more likely there's retaliation. i'm scared for journalists. i'm scared for people who have public platforms of all parties and that's how people should feel. so for president biden, senator coons mentioned he was in church. he's someone that's very prayerful and someone who

attends church and he probably is relying on that, and in this moment his instinct would be not to be political and you just take it day by day. that's where he would be. he has a huge interview tomorrow and the moment there is not to talk about the political path forward. it is to be a healer and to lower the rhetoric and the tenor and the tension in the country. >> it is fascinating. every conversation will be different including that interview tomorrow. lahnee, former president trump released a statement on his truth social account calling on the country to be united. he obviously has a powerful role to play in this moment, too, even as he recovers and as everyone is wishing him a full and quick recovery. >> all political leaders have an important role to play on the night abraham lincoln was shot he wore a jacket and inscribed in that jacket was the phrase, one country, one destiny, and never has that been more true than this morning.

we are one country and one destiny and the notion that we talk about how divided we've been, we have been very divided and the rhetoric has been shot, but we can go in one of two directions now as a country. we can double down on that division and increase the rhetoric and increase the heat and make it more challenging for us to have a real discussion as senator sanders said about the issues, or we can move in the direction to come together and decide we want to solve some problems, and i think that leaders whether it's former president biden or former president trump everyone you've had on the show today has modeled the right tone we take on the politics in civility and let's come together to address these issues and i hope that's where we go. >> everyone is talking about the republican national convention next week and the context of tone. talk a little -- there's so much excitement in the city and obviously now, a somber start to the what will be officially naming donald trump as the republican nominee.

>> i'm saddened, as well. i became a political journalist because i became fascinated with conventions and these political campaigns. they're exciting and they're exhilarated and a chance for voters to get up front with these candidates and it's a fascinating process to watch, and i'm hoping it doesn't change all of that dramatically. the security will. i've been fascinated by senator graham talking about theodore roosevelt. theodore roosevelt was shot famously in milwaukee and i say famously because after being shot it was just a graze, he just kind of brushed it off, gave that speech and then went, you know, to the hospital afterwards. so what i think now when does the former president come into milwaukee give the speech to set the tone, but not only the convention, but going forward. >> people will be hanging on his every word. that is for sure. carol lee, you've been doing a lot of reporting with the fact that the biden campaign has been

wrestling for these calls for president biden to pass the torch. how does this moment, does this moment impact whether or not the talks come to a standstill help has that already happened? that feels like ancient history, right? >> it does. it tells you where this is headed and when you talk to democrats say this is all paused and the president's re-election campaign is effectively paused and the white house is in this hour-by-hour discussion when does the president come out to to speak again. what does the schedule look like this week. is he going to continue to travel? he had campaign events and it remains to be seen, but for now the tone and the tenor is it would be really tone deaf for a democrat to come out and say it's time for the president to go. >> i think that's what i'm also hearing. it feels all paused right now. it may not feel paused tomorrow or tuesday and part of of that

is because the convention is starting and unless the programming changes the rhetoric and how the programming is set up it's not calming the tone or restoring civility. we'll see if that programming changes, but if it stays the same that is escalating it. it is not a civil approach. >> that's what i'm worried about. >> it can be tough to execute a convention program when you have some event that's thrown in like this. in 2012 when i had to help execute the romney campaign convention program we had hurricane, this obviously is far more horrific and creates a whole set of different challenges, but it will be interesting to see how that's navigated over the next several days because the focus will be on immigration and how to make america safe again and all these other themes. is that going to continue or is there going to be a dramatic shift in the program because of this maybe a more unifying tone and one that allows former president trump in a unique way. >> we will be watching all of

those questions and thank you all for being here this morning. we do have a programming note. our sunday "meet the press" broadcast will be off the air for a few weeks during the coverage of the british open and our round the clock coverage of the olympic games in paris. i will be in milwaukee all week anchoring our streaming show meet the press. that is all for today. thank you so much for watching and please do take care of yourself as the nation continues to grapple with what just unfolded. we'll see you back in august because if it's sunday, it's "meet the press."