r be a home wrecker. oo this is a good book title. you are watching special coverage of the attempted assassination of former president trump during his rally in pennsylvania, about

eight hours ago. we are tracking new details coming in after this horrific incident. he says a bullet pierced his ear. the fbi has identified the shooter. thomas mathew crooks, 20 years old, he is from bethel park, pennsylvania, a suburb of pittsburgh. he was killed unseen by law enforcement. the rally site is still an active crime scene police arrested the shooter's home. there is new video appearing to show the gunman just before the shooting. this was obtained by tmc and verified by nbc news. the shooter holding a gun on a roof near the rally. that building was less than 150 yards from the stage were trump was speaking which authorities say was outside the security perimeter. we want to show you a full incident again which played out in a matter of minutes, shortly after trump began his rally speech. >> if you want to really see

something, take a look at what happened. >> ready, move. hawkeye is here. >> are you ready? shooter is down. we are clear. we are clear.

>> let me get my shoes. let me get my shoes. let me get my shoes. >> watch out? >> usa. usa. usa. usa. usa. usa. usa.

>> the former president was able to walk out of the rally at the secret service vehicle. one spectator was killed in two others were critically injured. trump received medical care and here you see him arriving in new jersey landing at newark airport a little over two hours ago. trump gave an update on social media after he was whisked away by secret service with that blood streaming down his face. he writes, 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. we know that trump spoke with president biden at some point this evening. president biden briefly addressed the nation a short time ago.

>> look, there's no place in america for this kind of violence. it is sick. it is sick. it's one of the reasons why we have to do unite this country. we can't allow for this to be happening. we cannot be like this or condone this. >> we have our full team reporting on this. nbc news investigative reporter andy blank steen, let me go to you first. you have been following the investigation. where does it stand? >> reporter: things are moving pretty rapidly. the thing they are looking at is how does thomas mathew crooks, 20 years old from bethel park, pennsylvania, get to this siding get on a roof within 150 yards with the former president, republican candidate, and squeeze off multiple rounds, hitting the former president. injuring two people and killing someone in the audience. how does that happen? we talked about secure versus unsecured locations.

here at elevation, this individual was able to get off multiple rounds in the open. i think it's one of the biggest questions. it will be the biggest part of the criticism here. as the investigation goes forward. there will be evidence gathered and multiple fronts and trying to find a time line and the immediate cash immediately before it happens but what the suspects looks like in his life. that, this is proceeding on multiple fronts. the fbi is leading the investigation, but you will see administrative investigation that's been talked about. congress, hearings at least that's what's been talked about. >> shaq brewster is an bethel park. the pittsburgh suburb where the shooter is from. what is the police presence like they are, what is believed

to be the suspect in residence? >> reporter: there is still a police presence. it's the middle of the night. it's a quiet residential neighborhood but has turned into the focal point of this investigation. we do not have eyes on the shooter's home, but it's down the street and three homes up. we have seen large law enforcement presence. several different agencies. certainly the bethel park police department has been here. they are setting up the perimeter. a perimeter that is grown over our time here on scene. we know the county bomb squad is here. they told me about an hour and a half to two hours ago they were entering the shooter's home for the first time. he said it was imminent operation they were about to undergo. they didn't know what they would expect to see insider if they would find anything. if anything would be retrieved

from the shooter's home but he warned they would take that action a little while after that . we have seen the atf here, a federal agency. we have seen one agent walk out with a long gun. this is not a tent scene despite the perimeter being set up. we know these homes have not been evacuated. we have seen residents peaking through their windows once in a while. we have seen neighbors come down to get a sense of what's happening in the middle of the night in their neighborhood. we know there are multiple agencies on scene. they said they were making entry for the first time into the shooter's home. no word since then on what, if anything, they found. we do know and we see members of law enforcement walking back and forth. the state police is also here. many different law enforcement agencies. they expect to be here for hours if not days to come as this investigation continues.

>> thank you for your reported. andy, what more do we know about this shooter we have identified again, as thomas mathew crooks. is 20 years old. what else? >> part of what shaq is saying at the home is an attempt to gather background on who this person is. do they have a criminal record? were there mental health issues? would about the weapons the atf will be looking at and fbi? in terms of the digital footprint and computers that could be seized. looking at social media profiles, apps, emails, all of it is going to be under scrutiny and not coming hours, days, and months. when you talk about other things , potential writings or something that would indicate potential motive. as you know, one of the things, things tend to come out -- don't come out

immediately are there are small parts of it. it's hard to describe motive especially when you can have things that are contradictory in terms of evidence seized and also in terms of what might be missing. they will try to put together and use all of this and put all these things on a time line. not only leading immediately to the event but this arc of his life. >> we do know that he was registered as a republican, and made a small donation at one point. a motive still not known, at least according to law enforcement officials. erin mclaughlin, you are in bedminster, new jersey, what do we know how trump is doing right now and his plans for today? it's early in the morning but it's 24 hours before the republican nationalconvention kicks off. >> reporter: that is really.

what we know is his campaign is incomplete communications lockdown, according to a memo seen by two sources, telling nbc news, following that assassination attempt, a memo went out to his campaign staff saying, quote, anyone who speaks with the press, even in background or off the record will be found and terminated immediately. refrain from commenting, speculating, posting on social media. complete and total lockdown. nevertheless, around 12:37 in the morning in newark, new jersey, posting a video of former president trump deplaning in the video. you see the former president slowly walking down the steps, flanked by security. he briefly waves. no comment made. it is unclear at this hour exactly where he went next. we know he has the trump

national golf course in bedminster, it's about 30 minutes away. a place he frequently goes to in the summer and where his daughter ivanka was married. we saw 1:20 a.m. a large nvoy of security vehicles including state police exit in that direction, away from the club, followed by support vehicles. it's possible he is spending the night in bedminster, but we are waiting word from his campaign as to when we will see and hear from the former president. >> what else can you tell us about the moments after the shooting. we keep watching this video with the former president is giving his rally speech. where he then appears to grab the side of his head and then docs a short time later. gets up and we see the blood on the side of his face, and we see him raise his fist in defiance and strength and courage to show he was okay and to give his rally supporters

positive signal that he was going to be okay. what do we know about his time at the hospital? what has transpired for him and his inner circle over the last several hours? >> reporter: one of the things that strikes me most is the audio. the audio from his microphone, you can hear the screaming. you can hear the panic of security officials around him. you can hear the chaos as they gradually moved him and whisked him away to safety. we know he spent about five hours at the hospital getting, what i presume was a complete medical evaluation and butler, pennsylvania, before being escorted by pennsylvania state police as well as the secret service to the airport where he then flew to newark. we know he is in contact with his children. we know he spoke over the phone to donald trump jr. donald trump jr. posting on x he spoke

to his father, and his father was in, quote, great spirits. >> thank you for that great reported. george solis is in butler, pennsylvania, where this happened. what is happening at the rally say right now? it remains a crime scene? >> reporter: that's right. hours removed from this assassination attempt, you cannot get near the stage. all you can see is a flag in the distance. when we first arrived about an hour ago, we were set up in a place where you could see the stage behind us, but pennsylvania state police telling us we needed to leave and break down because we were potentially putting ourselves at risk. what that risk was they would not specify. we complied with law enforcement so now we are at a new location. you can see the road closures. getting to but there is a bit of a mess. the roads are closed, indicating they are still

looking for information, maybe canvassing for evidence near where this assassination attempt took place. the community is quiet but you have to wonder, so many people, as we heard in some of the earlier reporting from dasha burns, for them it was her first rally, first time coming. then this happens, and you heard from the officials, one person died and two is critically injured. we have not learned the identities of those people yet. loved ones are grieving this evening. one thing nbc was able to confirm through the trump campaign is that former president trump has authorized a gofundme and a place for donations for the supporters of families of those wounded or killed in the brutal and horrific assassination attempt. donations directed to those americans as they grieve and recover, may god bless and unite our nation. that coming from the campaign. all we know about those that individual that lost their lives and those wounded that

they are men. where we are, we are next to a church, and you have to wonder is services began with a conversation will be like for those reeling and have to relive this trauma as this video has been circulating. we have seen some of those videos. one thing that strikes me as we watch some of the video and something law enforcement pointed out, after the shots rang out, you do not see chaos erupt in the stands or the crowds. everyone holds the ground which law enforcement said helped in the situation from making a horrific scene even worse when people tend to scatter when shots rang out. investigators are looking into that and as they ask anyone at the rally for any video, because we know in this day and age of it did deal debt digital media that everyone had a phone. as we are watching in the debt of the night, you see the pennsylvania state police presence that is handling the

homicide investigation and those that were wounded. we expect to learn more about the victims and who they were and how they were connected in any way to the rally. very very fluid seen even though it's quiet. it is something we will continue monitoring into the early hours. >> it is remarkable how calm people were in the midst of the chaos and that fear so many must've felt hearing the shots and sing the former president dropped to the ground before he quickly got up. thank you very much for your reporting from that scene. please keep us posted as the investigation continues into the early morning hours. gary grumbach is in washington and we've seen such an outpouring of reaction. a lot of statements from lawmakers in both parties including leaders around the world. a unified condemnation of this kind of violence. >> reporter: condemnation of

this violence and calls for praise from both sides of the out. doesn't matter if you're republican or democrat. president biden was in rehoboth beach when the shooting took place. he was at church, somewhere he often is on saturday evenings. when he left church, the press asked him if he was aware. he said he was aware but not fully briefed. it was soon after that briefed on the shooting he wanted to get to campus to speak to the nation on that point. to call for national unity and he called the actions of the shooter today sick. i want to read a portion, it's one of the reasons why we have to unite this country. we cannot allow for this to be happening. we cannot be like this and we cannot condone this. after he spoke to america, he spoke to former president trump. they did connect and former president trump was in pennsylvania and the president himself was in delaware. the president is back at the white house. you can be president from anywhere delaware or the white

house but it's safer and more convenient to have the briefings he needs to have, especially as we reach toward tomorrow or later today i guess it is. where he will have a briefing with the vice president, homeland security officials, and folks from the secret service as well. >> we are hearing from everyone from a uk to japan to brazil, leaders condemning the violence. offering their support for americans and the former president who was injured. i want to bring in marsha espinoza, former homeland security spokeswoman. thank you for being here. is how law enforcement -- i want you to listen to law enforcement describe the immediate police response. this was during a press conference around midnight. >> a number of sounds were heard and it became apparent that shots were being fired in that direction. it was a chaotic scene. law enforcement, i believe,

acted heroically, quickly identifying and neutralizing the threat as well as responding to assist the various victims. psp had a significant presence along with all our federal partners at the time of the shooting. we have since enhanced that present significantly, bringing in resources from all over the commonwealth, to ensure we have a speedy, thorough investigation. we are working very closely with the fbi as we work through this. >> the secret service response in that moment as shots rang out, walk us through that. >> what you saw was the secret service or the members of former president trump's detail spring into action so quickly. you saw them literally come from every direction to create a human bunker around the former president, and bring him down. you may not be able to

see this, there are barriers in front of that podium. they brought him down behind the barriers to keep them safe. you can hear them talking to each other. they are clearly communicating. there's a detail leader giving the instructions and the others following suit. you can hear them because of the hot microphone. hear that the shooter had been taken care of and they were free to move the president. you saw the sharpshooters come in and make sure the area was clear for them to move the president from the stage to the vehicle. swift, amazing action from the secret service. this is what they do and do best. you don't know all the successes the secret service has because they often go unnoticed. that are tremendous. having seen them work first

hand, i know the level of detail that goes into every single event, big or small. they know the route they will take the dignitary. they know where the closest restroom is an exit and where the vehicle is. where the closest hospital is. they have it figured out ahead of time. they are incredible professionals and grateful for their work today. >> am wondering as you watch this video as we all have over and over, what stands out most to you? >> what stands out is the fact that they literally put their human bodies on the line to protect the former president. this is what they do. i know a lot of those guys on the detail. their families are watching them at home, and they do have bulletproof vests on underneath their suits, but they don't even think.

they put themselves in harms way and did what they needed to do to protect the former president. it was an incredible seen today. i know they are going to be looking at everything and taking careful notes about what happened and what they can do better, especially as they gear up to prepare for protecting but the republican national convention and the democratic national convention as well. both of which they are responsible for. >> i want to talk about that in a moment. i want to get back to the security a at this particular event. secret service was swift to respond and react to the shots as they rang out. and yet, when it comes to providing security and clamping down on this zone, we are told the shooter was outside the security perimeter on top of a building, about 150 yards away. that's not too far away. sure that have been a focus ahead of the rally?

>> we will find all of that out but i know the secret service will ask those questions as well as the fbi to figure out what happened. they need to answer all those questions on why there was a line of sight vulnerability. they need those answers quickly because there may need to be a change in protocol, especially ahead of the conventions. it's important to understand how the threat materialized and how they can stop a potentially moving forward. yeah, i guarantee they will be looking at all those things in the coming days. >> stay with me and i want to bring in msnbc law enforcement analyst carmen best. carmen, what do you make of this threat outside the security perimeter, and how easy it appears it was for someone to take this kind of violent action? >> yeah, as you noted, it was surprising that there wasn't

anyone there. we don't know until we talk to the secret service what kind of attention was paid to the particular venue beforehand. they might've done a sweep or something. we have to wait until we hear back from them. additionally, secret service also relies upon local law enforcement and others to participate and assist so it may have been an area that should've been covered or could've been covered by other mutual aids. again, some unanswered questions early on. trying to figure out what happened here. clearly, the fact they were able to get the former president to safety quickly and neutralize the threat immediately are all the things that are good things.

there will be things that probably could be looked at and done better in the future and that's why they have these debriefs. >> we have heard eyewitnesses say they saw this apparent shooter climbing up onto the building, saw him on the rooftop with this gun. they were trying to alert police. your thoughts on that? >> yeah, that's very concerning considering what happened. that will be looked at. not having been there but understanding that typically agencies work together on these types of events, large gatherings, lots of people, ensuring the secret service is taking care of their target and municipalities working with them to take care of other areas. there will be some discussions about what happened. it's concerning and something that will be addressed as they debriefed this whole thing. >> carmen, what would you expect to the security presence to be like at an event like

this and with this different law enforcement agencies would be doing throughout the course of the rally? take us inside what that is like to be there on scene as a police officer or a member of the security detail. >> yeah, well, particularly the law enforcement side, the police officers who i worked for many years, almost decades, on a number of these types of things. you are locking down the perimeter, the outer perimeter and ensuring safe access routes. you are making sure you keep an eye out on anything that looks unusual in the area. any vehicles that appear to be going slowly are coming in. at an odd speed or anything that looks out of the ordinary, you want officers to be looking at that. officers are good at that because they work these areas and i know the neighborhoods and they know what looks like

the neighborhood and what belongs and what does not. that's often a benefit for them to be very vigilant, particularly as emotions can be pretty high at some of these events. there's a lot of training that goes in and coordination between the secret service and local law enforcement that is typical. again, some things are concerning but there will have to be debriefed until we find out the details of what happened and how he was able to get on top of the building and create the damage that he did. >> carmen, standby. we have our politics reporter jonathan allen with us. president biden and former president trump spoke on the phone. we heard the president address the nation briefly and the biden campaign has pulled all ads and postal communications after the shooting. tell us more about the type of political reaction we are seeing in light of this tragic

event that has taken place. >> what your seeing from president biden is what you would expect from him as somebody who has campaigned as a leader who wants to turn down the temperature, who wants to unify the country, and who wants to see civil discourse. we are watching these images over and over, so horrific. a major party candidate for president, a nominee, former president of the united states to be targeted for an assassination, it's hard to watch. it's not surprising to hear president biden say those things and it's not surprising to hear most of the responsible party leaders talking in that way, either like biden in televised remarks to the camera or like those who are put out statements. what we have also seen though is

senator j.d. vance of ohio who is a possible vice presidential pick for trump, vivek ramaswamy who rang for the presidential nomination, with statements have blamed either democrats or biden for what happened today. immediately going to that political cultural. i don't think there's any responsible person in america who would want to see a presidential candidate targeted like this. it doesn't make sense. i think you are going to see in the coming days and return to the basic partisanship. i think there were a few hours of calls for turning down the temperature and then we will go back into the political corners everybody seems to be locked into even though we should be able to look at this and say, maybe things have been turned up too much. >> so much more to discuss. andy, erin mclaughlin, george

solis, gary grumbach, please keep us posted as you keep your reporting it jonathan allen and carmen best, stay with me. everybody stay with us. more of the special coverage of the investigation into the attempted assassination of former president trump. we will talk to a reporter who was there at the site when it happened. eyewitness. right after the break. right after the break. if you're age 50 to 85 and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three p's. what are the three p's? the three p's of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54. what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? also $9.95 a month. i just turned 80.

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this is our breaking news coverage of the assassination attempt on former president trump during his rally in pennsylvania. we now know who the shooter was. the fbi has identified thomas mathew crooks, 20 years old of bethel park, pennsylvania. he was killed by law enforcement after opening fire the rally as trump was speaking. the former president says his ear was grazed by a bullet. we saw him with blood streaming down his face onstage after he initially ducked. he stands back up and the secret service warms around him. he tried to shield him. it happened so quickly. really, not a lot of thought, the reaction was swift and fortunately trump was okay.

sadly, one spectator at this rally was killed. two others were critically wounded. police have not identified those victims. they also have not offered any insight into a motive. it has become a fast-moving investigation. the fbi taken the lead with local police, state police, secret service all involved. it's the middle of the night, early morning hours but there's serious police presence outside the gunman's residence in pittsburgh, sighed a pittsburgh suburb that includes the fbi, the bomb squad, the etf and the rally site is also still an active crime scene. joining us, "new york times" politics reporter simon levin who was at the rally when this assassination attempt happen. thank you so much for joining us. how are you doing after everything you went through today? >> i am okay. i am a little frazzled but made it out. >> take us through what you

experience? what do you remember seeing and hearing in those initial moments? >> i was standing by the press box and write around maybe five or six minutes after trump began speaking, he was talking about immigration. we heard just popping sounds from my left door stage right and at which point everyone in the press area ducked. i went under the risers and we heard another volley of shots. people were screaming get them. shots fired. thankfully, there was not a stampede of people exiting the venue. there was more so confusion. a lot of people i talked to thought it was great to firecrackers at first. at one point i saw people cheering and heard people cheering as trump was led away. he raised a fist defiantly and

people applauded him as secret service took him away. >> when you heard those loud pops initially, what went through your mind? some thought it was fireworks. what did you think it was and what did you feel in that moment? >> i have heard gunfire before so i was pretty sure it was shots fired as opposed to fireworks or something like that. i got into fight or flight mode. i hid under the risers and i had to start reporting. >> when did you realize trump had been shot? >> as soon as i reemerged after the second volley of shots and i saw trump raised his fist. you could barely make out from the distance i was at that he had a little bit of blood on his face, but it was a little unclear from the rest of the crowd. >> you talked about going into reporting mode. that was an instinctive viewers and the world has now seen the damage you describe of trump getting back up, raising his fist in the air and in your

latest piece you describe it this way and i will quote you. after trump thrilled the crowd with his fist in needed offstage on his own power, his arm draped over the agent and some soft political implications. trump was just elected today one man shouted. he is a martyr. what was that like to witness that moment first-hand? >> i will say, chatted with several rally goers after this, and they expressed views unique emotional, unified feeling, i guess. they said it united them as trump supporters in a way, and they were encouraged to see people at the rally, especially those injured, people were coming to the aid and try to make sure everyone was okay. politically, a lot of people at the rally had told me that, in fact, they saw this as a confirmation of their concerns

that trump was facing so many attacks from people online and the left. that this only ensures their interest in power and voting for him grows. >> let me ask about the security presence. i think so many people are trying to say how can this happen and make sense of the fact that somebody could climb on a building and open fire. what was the security presence like? what protocols were there to get into the rally even? >> many of the rallies often have a tsa style screening where you go through metal detector and secret service were tsa agents will go through your bags. you will be wanded over with the magnetic our metal detector. this is standard procedure for political events like this.

what was interesting as it was a large grassy area with few trees in the immediate outside the perimeter. there were a variety of vantage points from buildings aside the perimeter for which you could see trump, you could see the central rally venue. at the press briefing, officials gave that evening at the butler township police department, they had told us the building from which the suspect, the shooter where his body was found was outside the immediate security area. it was not to our knowledge, screened. >> did you realize where the shots were coming from when the shots rang out? we have heard from some witnesses who believe they saw the shooter at some point. what about when you are experiencing it. did you see the shooter at any point? >> no, i did not see the shooter at all.

it was apparently from west of the venue. most people i talked to identified that the shots came from left or stage right. some people thought it had come from the left-hand bleachers. the shooter was apparently, it seemed, farther away. yeah, i had not seen the shooter. >> when did you know it will save that the event had been completed? there was no longer an active shooter? >> i guess the police and officials told us to clear out. people started going out. there was a lot of confusion. thankfully, there was no stampede or crowd crash. the crowd was relatively calm and set for a few who were panicked. after we were instructed to leave not long after the former president was escorted out, he assumed it was safe to leave at that point. however, i would say it wasn't very clear, and i think a lot

of people were very reassured in the crowd from speaking with them that things were safe and okay when they saw that former president trump had not been mortally injured. >> is somebody who has been covering this campaign season, i wonder if your mind has jumped to what this means as the campaign continues and the current political climate we are experiencing? >> yeah, it's interesting it's coming on the cusp of the national convention which is set to start next week. from the trump campaign, seems so far that the schedule and the program will proceed relatively is normal. we will have to see with the mood and tenor of those early events are on monday and what it looks like. as for now, i can say a lot of the rally goers i spoke with our incredibly energized to vote in support trump.

some who said they were fearful of him in the past and i anticipate, based on what they told me, that this will sort of grow among trump's pace. a lot of them indicated to me that they feel even more passion to go out and vote and recruit their friends and voting for former president trump. >> it's one thing for it to spur people to take that action, to be motivated for voting. i wonder if this takes down the temperature at all? do you have a sense of whether that will take place? >> frankly, i don't. in fact, i just got home from the rally location, and it was held at a fairgrounds with minimal service. i'm coming back online now and i'm not sure where the conversation goes. >> simon levien, thank you for sharing what you went through in being our eyes and ears in helping us cover this historic

event. so glad you are okay. thank you for joining us early this morning. >> thank you for having me. just before midnight, hallie jackson spoke with republican congressman dan meuser of pennsylvania and he was there the rally and describe the chaotic scene once the shots rang out. here as part of their conversation. >> is started as a typical rally. we had three rally speeches. myself as senate candidate dave mccormick and mike kelly. the president arrived and we did pictures and met with people. then he came out, and he wasn't speaking for more than six or seven minutes, when we heard rapid gunfire. the first couple of shots, i don't think anyone knew what was going on. i guess maybe the fourth shot is when it hit the president, and when he put his hand to his head, and hit the deck, everybody in

the place knew what was going on and knew we were under fire. the secret service did its job. our pennsylvania state troopers were also highly engaged. there was a lot of security there. very sadly, an individual sitting right behind me, a few rows was also hit. that was a bad scene, and my understanding is that was a fatality. that he was killed. it was chaotic. it was a shame. we were lucky the president, former president trump by quarter of an inch avoided assassination. >> you describe being close to someone ultimately killed. i imagine there was a fear for your own safety? >> i think everybody was fearing some or in some cases quite a bit, when you are hearing rapidfire like that and you see the president go down.

certainly, when trump got up and waved his fist and he is on the rise, that change the mood in a hurry. there was still pandemonium, tears, and quite a bit of fear. regarding the shooter, look, got information on him a little earlier. if it's the same person, he seems that he put out something earlier that was very threatening. that he was going to do something today. if it was the same individual, whether there's mental illness there were the level of hate comes from and the idea he thinks he would do some good by assassinating every candidate for president and perhaps the future president and former president, is pretty sad. i will be honest, i'm glad when someone like that, thanks they

can get away with something like that that he did not, number 1. number 2, paid the ultimate price. we need to deter such craziness and on the same note, i will lead, we need an environment of more open discourse, less hyperbole and less accusation and more conversations. that is the responsibility, i think, of those in elected office, and hopefully this will be a catalyst to do that. >> any contact with anyone in the trump warbler, broader orbit, since this happened tonight in butler? >> just anecdotal. nothing necessarily specific, but we hear that the president is well. he is strong. he is fired up, as you can imagine. there is a traumatic incident, but we are happy he is okay.

we are going to see him in milwaukee. >> to use you believe milwaukee will move forward as planned? we have been reporting that the former president to his campaign is looking forward to being there. there may be changes related to the remarks et cetera, given what's happened. >> i agree. this is a serious event. hopefully, we can find some good in it, if you will, or opportunity to unite. realize that we are all americans, and we need to work towards common goals. the president is a fighter. he has great energy, and something tells me he is going to be quite present at his convention. >> that was congressman dan meuser who was at the rally in

pennsylvania where the shots rang out. this attempted assassination of former president trump, who has survived this event. appears to be in good spirits we are told. is recovering now, returning to new jersey a short time ago. back with us, jonathan allen, former dhs assistant secretary for public affairs marsha espinoza and msnbc law enforcement analyst carmen best. carmen, take us inside the investigation right now. what do you see as the focus at this moment? >> thank you for having me again. right now law enforcement will be looking at finding out what the motive was for why and what happened. there will be a number of aspects they are looking at. they are at the suspect may in home and searching there to try to find any evidence that will show what prompted this, if

anyone else was involved. who might've known what and when. all of that will go on as well as looking at how they reacted and responded to the assassination attempt on former president trump. they will be reviewing those details and come together with other agencies, looking for other potential information they can find out. they will be looking at the future. how many other electors are potential electors may be affected by this. there's copycat behavior or some sort of retaliatory behavior based on what the rhetoric is coming out about this. a lot of different aspects when looking at right now. there will be teams coordinating, looking at every single piece of this. >> i asked to marsha that she sees in this video, when you

look at this, carmen, what stands out to you about the incident, about the rally site, about reaction to the shots ringing out? what catches your eye is trained law enforcement personnel? >> yeah, certainly, that's why we train or why law enforcement personnel trained because people fall back on training immediately. the secret service immediately surrounded the former president, made sure he was safe. that the shooter was taken out, neutralized immediately. i think those things worked well. they had an escape vehicle, if you will, standing by quickly to move the president from the scene. other law enforcement clearly, i didn't see that, but we know they got there relatively quickly to make sure they could

render the area safe. i think, overall, this is a tragic and horrible event could've been much worse but for the prompt action of law enforcement that was there on scene. >> absolutely. what security adjustments do you think could be happening right now at only for the upcoming republican convention that starts tomorrow in the democratic convention and when it comes to the candidates for donald trump, president biden after this? >> there are already a lot of security protocols in place, as mentioned. when you go to large events, you have to go through magnetometers and there's usually canines sniffing. they do a clean sweep of everything. they look under the bleachers, under the chairs, they sweep the tv camera equipment. everything. so much goes into the

preparation, security around these events already. but, they will take a look at what happened last night, yesterday, and what might need to be done more. specifically, the rnc convention is being held in milwaukee where as i understand, guns might be allowed in the outer perimeter of the area. they could take a look at that. as well as additional measures that we may not be able to see. those may be seen and met maybe unseen. they may be adding additional local law enforcement presence. so you have the visual presence of security all around, whether vehicles or individuals. all sorts of things including who has access to the location and clamping down on those things. so much already goes into this. this is what secret service prepares for and that's why

they lead these events and they are the best at what they do. >> jonathan, we don't know when we will see trump next. if he will make remarks before the convention that starts tomorrow. what kind of tone do you expect to see from him? what will you be watching for? >> i expect to see a tone that matches that image you saw with his fist pumped in the air. blood streaked across his face. a tone of defiance. a ton of fighting. his various enemies real and perceived, and in this case a very real one and all too real one. when he takes that stage in milwaukee on thursday, probably between now and then, i think that's the tone you will hear from him. this is a horrific moment in american history. it's not the first time there has been an assassination attempt on a presidential

candidate and president. there were some successful assassination attempts in the past. abraham lincoln the first we saw a ronald reagan shot very badly wounded in 1981. go back a little further, george wallace in 1972 shot and paralyzed. 1968, you had bobby kennedy, robert f. kennedy who was shot and killed and his brother john f. kennedy in 1963. i think trump will be the same donald trump much more energized. >> jonathan allen, marsha espinosa please stay with me. carmen best, thank you. i appreciate your analysis and expertise. coming up we have special coverage of this investigation into the attempted assassination of former president trump. we are continuing to do reporting out on the investigation, was coming in terms of the rnc, and how to donald trump is doing .

how we are learning about other victims and the suspect, that and more after a quick break.

this is an nbc news special report. hello, on this sunday morning, it is 4:00 a.m. eastern, i am want to conquer a borough, we are back with coverage this mornine