is worng conveying, margaret while we're waiting to see what republicans decide to do with their convention, the biden campaign, let it be known moments before the president spoke that biden campaign itself is moving tonight to stop all television and digital advertising across the country to acknowledge this moment and is working to ensure that all outbound communications to voters that, is fund-raising appeals and advertising is stopped to mark they vent. that is a notable pause given that upwards of $50 million were supposed to be spent this month on that kind of advertising it and other outreach. >> well, ed, what you're saying just to put it in context, this subpoena day, but it is also a choice, a deliberate choice being made by the biden campaign to say this is not the moment for politics.

it was very quickly that they got the president on-air. tell me what you thought about the language chosen by the president and the thinking in the white house in trying to tamp down any kind of perhaps retaliation? >> reporter: when the current president speaks about his predecessor and bitter political rival, i'd never heard him referred to him that way before as donald. i would surmise from years of tracking him, that's exactly what he was trying to do, sort of tamp down the politics of this and try to emphasize the humanity. donald after all is a man, a human being, a father, a grandfather. so the fact he very clearly said from the beginning i'm trying to talk to trump tonight myself is notable, and we'll see whether or not that conversation happens. and the president didn't rule

out speaking again tonight to try to help quell concerns across the country. that response different to the one that trump made in the moments after this, though, perhaps understandable, and we'll just have to monitor here in the coming hours how these two leaders and perhaps former presidents, margaret, consider speaking out or doing something to try to quell the obvious rancor and violence that we've seen today and could potentially see over the next 3 1/2 months as the campaign continues. >> yeah. and adriana, apologies if you've already reported that, but our pat milton is saying we know the weapon used was a rifle, that the shooter used that. and that video we were showing earlier of the downed individual appeared to be wearing fatigues, was the weapon. you can't see the shooter but we believe that reflect -- that was the eliminated threat secret service took down. >> confirmation to law

enforcement sources to her. the shooter was outside that cordon area. it was on that elevated structure, shot and killed by a member of the secret service counter assault team. >> in other words, a skilled shooter to be able to take a shot like that at a distance with a rifle. >> and to ed's point, the current president is talking about unity, trying to cut through the politics and talk about the humanity of the situation. the vice president has also issued a statement. she says that she's been briefed. she says doug and i are relieved he's not seriously injured. we're praying for him, his family, and all those who have been injured and impacted by this senseless shooting. she continues and says we're grateful to the united states secret service, first responders, and local authorities for their immediate action. violence such as this has no place in our nation. we must condemn this abhorrent act and do our part to ensure it does not lead to more violence.

>> and new reporting from a cbs news reporter that it's still being determined if former president trump was being hit by a bullet or some debris. some evidence he might have been cut by the glass, surrounded by tell prompters which are plastic or glass depending on the event on stage. different elements are on stage as well. the suspect was on a shed. again, that elevated platform outside the security perimeter. usually multiple sources tell cbs news the president or republican nominee would have some sort of protective glass in the area, but it's unclear at this event what the extent was of the security around former president trump. >> and this on a day when, you know, the campaigns are in full swing. just today i read that statement from the vice president. she had a campaign event in pennsylvania, in philadelphia. that was indoors. these events have different levels of security based on the risk. there, of course, is more risk when you are outside.

there is less ability to control all the elements. we don't know exactly what happened, but we do know that an alleged assailant has been neutralized. we believe him if it is a man to have been up on a roof. >> cbs reporting at this point that it is a male, and we're having communication issues ourselves on this end, and this is a breaking news environment. so stay with us in this fluidity. but i want to make sure that our controlman in new york tells me that we have someone on the phone right now who was an eyewitness to events. i'd like to be able to speak to him. i'm told his name is josh drezling. are you there and can you hear all of us? >> yes, i'm here and i can hear you. >> wonderful, josh. give us a little context. why were you at the rally today? >> i was just an observer there to take some pictures and see the goings on of this whole movement in our country, and then chaos kind of broke out.

>> you're a journalist or -- you've been in the heat for an hour and went through security at this campaign. you're a pretty interested photographer. tell me a little bit about why you were there and what you saw. >> i'm an amateur journalist. i mostly cover music and that kind of stuff, so this was more of a personal kind of adventure today. i was there and beared through the heat and went through security -- there was several thousands of people there, and it was very hot. i made my way to basically the center of the crowd. i was a little bit too -- off to the right of the podium about 50 yards away standing there with -- you know, shoulder to shoulder with many, many other people. and then i heard one pop and then a seconds pop, pop, pop. and then there was like four or five that followed that, and it sounded like it came off to my right, which would have been

trump's left, where the video you were shown there is two people that were injured. i kind of think these two people were in the line of fire and that was the shots ricochetting on the aluminum grandstand kind of seating there. >> yeah, we heard -- some of our eyewitness reporters were saying that they could see blood on those metal boards in the stadium area in the infrastructure. what are we talking about there, and who is that from? >> i didn't personally see blood on the things, but i did see them -- liar paramedics and whatever secret service or military or whatever, they carried two guys out of there, and it's actually one of the videos you'd been playing, one i shot they were carrying him down the steps and one guy able to exit on his own with help from other people. and the other guy was being

carried out and he didn't have an expression or anything, and they took them off to the side and laid them on the ground there and were attending to them at that point. and actually i'm seeing the video on your station right now. >> that's your video that you shot. >> yeah, right there. >> you filmed. >> correct. >> and can you tell us if you saw -- the image that we have up right now of the person injured, did you -- with the american flag cowboy boots, were you able to see anything there, what happened and the extent of those injuries? >> no, that gentleman there with the flag around him, they took him and laid him in the grass there, and they eventually loaded him into an ambulance. i don't know what type of condition he was in at that point. i don't have any further information as far as that. >> okay, josh, thank you.

adriana, or bob, did you have any questions? >> i continue to hear from sources close to former president trump, family members like donald trump jr., top house republicans, top senate republicans. they are all trying to give the family some space tonight as the family directly communicates with former president trump. but those who have spoken to donald trump jr. and other family members say former president trump is reiterating to his closest advisers and family members that he is fine, but so many people on both sides of the aisle shook by this outbreak of violence in pennsylvania. we are still trying to learn more about what exactly happened on stage. we have seen the images. we have seen the video, but what exactly happened in terms of the trajectory of the firearm discharge, if they were bullets, if there was some other type of event that happened in the vicinity of the stage. we heard from david mccormick, a senate candidate and eyewitness sitting in the first row watching the former president. the former president, though,

physically personally defiant we're told tonight by those closest to him, doing fine. everyone in his circle shook. and you saw president biden tonight weighing in, not just a statement on paper but taking time in rehoboth beach, delaware, a place he rarely makes comments to make a statement about how he believes this is a sick moment in american political history. former president trump fine, the shooter killed, another person killed. but you see a security failure as margaret brennen and others have been detailing what they're reporting, a.t. smith and others have been discussing. they have someone as cbs news confirmed on an elevated structure just hundreds of yards away from a former president of the united states. one of the most arguably protected people in the country. all former presidents of the united states have lifetime security from the united states secret service. a breach today in butler, pennsylvania. you can see the alleged suspect who is now dead on the roof of

this structure not far from the crowd. and you had eyewitness said pouring out of this event in butler, pennsylvania, expressing aastonishment that some of them saw this person on the roof and shocked the secret service ultimately did take action to take out the shooter but of course not in time before something happened with an apparent firearm. the former president his fist in the air. that photo, photos and image of trump leaving the stage with his arm in the air have circulated like wildfire among his closest supporters and allies. and it should be noted many of trump supporters on social media tonight extremely angry -- not going to reflect all the verbatims on what we're seeing on social media from some of the republicans around trump, to be clear this is still a politically charged moment as much as it is a crime investigation and security moment. many people already in this country very angry at the other side not just on a partisan red versus blue level, but we cover

it all the time here on cbs news. there's a visceral emotions that pour out on the campaign trail. >> i was texting bob costa who said we have to take the political temperature down, he and mike lee issued this statement joint lee. we've got to take the political temperature down as evidenced by what happened in pennsylvania today. so two key republican trump supporters calling for the rhetoric, political violence, the threats of it to be lowered. that is in stark contrast to the head of the trump campaign, when the top trump campaign officials you were reading statements from earlier. we are also looking at social media posts from other republicans who are quite angry. everyone should be angry that the security failure happened, but in a way that will raise further concern of someone misinterpreting things and

perhaps carrying out further political violence. law enforcement will want to lower this temperature and words matter right now very much. >> we're entering, though, a period of extreme political charge with the republican national convention. we heard from ed o'keefe on the ground in milwaukee wisconsin, because that begins on monday. >> we have on the phone another eyewitness from the event in pennsylvania today. her name is melissa. melissa i understand you heard some pop, pop, pops. you heard what we believe to be a series of gunshots. according to the log i see there were at least three shots heard. how many did you hear? >> i believe we heard four shots. it was very confusing because the shots did not sound like they were gunshots. sounded like they were fireworks. and we were sitting about 50 feet from this giant green tractor, which is a combine. and i look over, and i saw

plumes of dust, but i thought that's not what a gunshot sounds like. and then the chaos ensued, and we all got down on the ground. and i could actually hear bullets whizzing by. so i think the interesting thing to note when you're looking at all the footage that is online and president trump is directly in front of you on the screen, all of this action was taking place to the right of the president. so we were on the ground for about a minute, we all stood up, and that's when i posted quite a lengthy video on my instagram that shows the exact area where we heard the gunshots coming from. now, it's interesting to note that the gunshots obviously hit a large piece of equipment that

was holding a giant speaker, and that cable snapped. and when that cable snapped, some kind of fluid came out of that machine. so there was fluid spraying, and there was a loud noise and equipment falling as well, so it was very chaotic. >> i'm sure it is. i'm looking here at our producers logging the video play back we're watching here on our screen right now. it looks like it's a 30-second or so difference of time between when they heard shots and when secret service said shooters down. >> yes. >> that was a very quick reaction it sounds like including neutralizing the shooter. >> absolutely. we did not hear any shots that would have neutralized the shooter. i actually posted the video of the gentleman getting carried out of the stands that was hurt. and i also have a still shot of further back them doing some kind of triage on someone.

i had thought it was a shooter, but now as i'm watching the news, it looks like the shooter is on top of the building. i don't know if that is true or not. but i think it's also interesting to note that the butler farm show area doesn't have good cellular service, so it was really -- people did not know what was going on. what was going on -- and it wasn't until i drove home and turned on the news that i actually saw the president being hit with the bullet. >> i believe -- are you from pennsylvania? because i believe pennsylvania is one of those states that allows concealed weapons be carried. >> yes. i have a concealed carry permit. >> so you know what a gunshot sounds like. >> absolutely. >> do you have any kind of idea what rifle this was -- >> if i had to guess, and again

i don't know if i was hearing a ricochet, i did not hear a rifle make a sound of a bullet leaving a rifle because i thought it was a firecracker. i would have bet money on it being a low-cal iber gun, a .22. i could also have been hearing equipment hit. i do have a concealed carry permit and do have good working knowledge of firearms, and i did not hear any shots after that of a shooter being taken out here. so i don't know if there are silencers involved or anything like that. >> okay, thank you for sharing your eyewitness account there. so very familiar with what guns sound like. i understand, bob costa, you are seeing donald trump himself make a statement now. >> yeah, former donald trump communicates on his social media platform truth social.

this is verbatim what he posted moments ago. "i want to thank the united states secret service and all response that took place in butler county, pennsylvania. most importantly i want to extend my condolence to the family of the person who was killed and another to the one badly injured. it is incredible that such an act can take place in our country. nothing is none at this time about the shooter who is now dead." cbs news has confirmed that. more verbatim. i was pierced with a bullet that pierced the upper right part of my ear. he says on truth social me believes he was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper right part of my ear. i knew something was wrong and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. much bleeding took place, so i realize then what was happening. god bless america, end quote. this is a statement moments ago from former president trump on

his truth social, social media account. he said nothing is known at this time about the shooter who is now dead. he believes he was shot on truth social with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear as he put it. he said he heard a whizzing sound, shots, and what he felt was a bullet ripping through the skin. cbs news is reporting out exact details of what happened on stage in terms of the firearm, what happened on top of that building hundreds of yards away where the shooter was -- who was ultimately killed was seen by many eyewitnesses. we're trying to figure out what exactly happened on stage when a firearm was discharged, but that is what former president trump, margaret, said tonight on his truth social account. his version, his statement of what he just said. as we said his family says he's fine, they're talking with him and communicating with his aides and family members tonight. he also posted this on truth social end wg god bless america. he said much bleeding took

place, whizzing sound, shots, and felt something ripping through his skin. >> he's always colorful and graphic in describing things. for him to say it was a bullet that pierced the upper part of his ear then would seem to contradict some of the initial reporting it was perhaps shrapnel or glass that ricochetted -- >> this is his statement. we are still reporting out this story, and part of that report is detailing what the person who was involved in this incident, former president donald trump, has to say. his truth social statement is like us talking to an eyewitness or talking to someone at the phone who was there, but he was directly involved. it is clear former president trump was injured in part with a firearm that was discharged from a building hundreds of yards away. he was visibly bleeding from the ear on his face as he left the stage, raised his arm in defiance as he left secret service on top of him. you can see the blood there on the upper part of his ear, a droplet of blood dripping along his cheek, so clearly something

struck him in that area. he says on truth social tonight he believes it was a bullet. we're still reporting out this story on cbs news. part of it is his account as he sees it. >> i am told that our cbs colleague from kdka, jennifer barrasso, is on the line right now. she is outside the scene of the rally. jennifer, what did you witness? >> hi there. so i have a witness right now. he had just showed up at the trump rally just a short time before it started, and he actually tells me that he saw the shooter on the building, and his name is benjamin maser. thank you so much for staying around. take me back. what were you doing before the shooting happened, and then what did you see and hear? >> i was just hanging, standing there like everybody else, waiting for trump and we -- as trump started, i noticed two officers that were looking for

something or somebody. i was -- so i was looking around myself and seeing a guy on top of one of the buildings go in between one building to the next, and went and told the officer that he was up there. and when i went back up to my spot i heard that people could still see the person from where they were standing, so i checked that out and i went back to tell the officer when he came over there, he could see them. and when i turned my back is when the shots -- when the shots started. and then it was -- it took me a second or two to figure out exactly what it was, and then it was just getting out of there and helping -- helping some other person out with her child. and we got out, and that was the end of that. and i left, that was all. >> reporter: so the viewers have some perspective, behind us, okay, is the american glass

research company. okay, can you kind of describe the building behind us, the tan building right there? can you take a look at it? and where was the shooter exactly? >> there's more buildings behind the tan building that we can see, and we were back there. there's two buildings -- two or three buildings behind that, and he was on both of them -- i assume both of them when he went on that small section from one to the other. and that was -- that was where he -- i i last saw him was the end of his day. >> reporter: so this man was able to basically climb to the next building, and you told law enforcement, hey, there's a guy over there? >> correct. i don't know how he got up there. i don't know any of that, but i

definitely saw him up there, and that was -- that was all i know. >> reporter: did you get a good look at the shooter? >> no, i don't know -- i don't know anything about him other than i believe he had a gray shirt on, but that's about as much as i know. >> reporter: and then what happened after the shots were fired snd can you describe just the panic and just the fear i'm sure you felt? >> there's definitely panic. started out of there, and i went away a little bit and noticed there was a lady trying to get out of there with her two chairs and her little child. and i helped her. i carried the child out and her chairs for her, and we got her out, and she said that there was -- her dad was still up there and told me what he was wearing, so went back up and found her dad and told him where he could find his daughter, and then that was it.

i left and got myself out of there. >> reporter: so the building where the shooter was, it's -- if you look to your left, it's that light tan building that we're seeing to the left of that brown building, correct? >> correct. back behind a couple of trees. >> reporter: and any idea just where he was positioned in terms of shooting at the former president? >> he was just on the roof. he would have been almost parallel to the stage. i couldn't see the president from where i was, but i knew where the stage was. >> reporter: you are telling me you actually told law enforcement, hey, there is a guy over there? >> correct. >> reporter: and what was the response again? >> they were just -- he just took that information and went towards the building looking for it, looking for the person. and i'm not sure -- i said when i turned around is when the

shots were, so i don't know what happened with that. and then it was -- then obviously my attention was directed somewhere else. >> reporter: you said you're a local here. what do you know about this company here? >> i don't know anything about american glass research. i assume they do glass research, but that's all i know. >> reporter: another witness i interviewed, he just is baffled, just confused how with all of the police here, the secret service, how this could have happened. just what are you wondering right now? >> i don't really -- i don't have much wonder. he was -- the shooter was outside of the secured fence. he never would have been -- he never would have went through security, never -- he was just far enough away. it's an unfortunate thing that happened, and it's not -- that's

all. >> reporter: did you see him get shot? >> no. like i said my back was turned at that point, so i didn't see any of it. >> reporter: thank you so much for your time. we really appreciate it. so there you have it. so the witness here just basically saying that he flagged law enforcement saying that he saw this guy and that it appeared that they were looking for someone, and he then saw the guy on the roof. and just many people that i'm talking to just wondering how this could have happened. >> many people wondering exactly that very question right now. and no doubt since this is a secret service investigation we'll be hearing more from them on those details as they get them. we do have a statement from the secret service at this time, and i want to share it with everyone who's tuning in at this hour. the secret service is saying today in butler, pennsylvania, at approximately 6:15 p.m., a

suspected shooter fired multiple shots. no specific number listed here. towards the stage from an elevated position as our eyewitnesses have been sharing with our audience. outside of the rally venue. the secret service personnel neutralized the shooter, who's now deceased. secret service quickly responded with protective measures, and former president trump is safe. one spectator was killed, as we've been reporting, and two spectators were critically injured. this is under investigation and the secret service has notified the fbi. the secret service confirming what our eyewitnesses have been saying in terms of the number of those injured, that the shooter was from an elevated position, and notably that those shots were taken from outside of the rally venue. that is going to be a key part of the investigation here. why the security perimeter didn't include that area, how the shooter knew and could get to that elevated position and be

able to take the shots that came this close to the 45th president of the united states. >> and to that point, margaret, we have new reporting from nicole sganga, that there is now planning currently under way to expand the perimeter at the republican national convention to create a buffer zone around the event. and at 8:42 p.m. eastern time, former president trump issued a statement on truth social. he said, quote, i want to thank the united states secret service and all law enforcement for their rapid response on the shooting that just took place in butler, pennsylvania. more most importantly i want to extend my condolences the family of the person at the rally who was killed, and he said -- he said that he recounted in his view whizzing sounds, quote, shots and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. much bleeding took place, he says, end quote on his truth social account. >> and bob, you're talking about those changing security protocols. i want to go out to milwaukee

where major garret is already on the ground ahead of the republican national convention, a high security event. major, i have to imagine it's getting even more protection at this hour. >> reporter: well, margaret, let me share what's happening right now. i'm about two blocks away from the arena where the republican national convention will be held. it's just over my shoulder. you can't see it over my shoulder, but trust me it's two blocks that way. already the security perimeter is being built around that convention site, multiple blocks in every direction. as i reported earlier on our special coverage reince preibus, the chair of this republican national convention was not when he spoke to me about an hour ago aware of any changes yet in the security protocols here in milwaukee. he said he would not be surprised if the existing very extensive security protocols and perimeters will either be hardened or extended, but nothing had been relayed to him yet. i just want to tell you what's going on in the last half hour