what really remains for all of us, the test for all of us is how we react to this. if this makes everyone more angry and causes the division in the country to become greater, that follows the worst lessons in american history. if we follow the best ones, we could make this a moment that includes our country. >> it is always nice to have your perspective on a day like this. there has not been a day like this in a long time. they with us. special coverage on nbc news now and msnbc continues right now. this is an nbc new special report. >> this morning, special coverage of the assassination attempt on former president trump, i'm tom llamas in butler, pennsylvania where a gunman shop former president trump at a campaign rally last night just behind me underneath

that american flag. >> i'm kate snow at nbc news headquarters in new york. the 45th president of the united states injured, but a live. the other supporters hit, one killed, two hospitalized. the shooter, taken down and the investigation under way. we want to pause and show you what happened last night. >> if you want to really see something, take a look what happened. >> [ sounds of gunfire ] >> [ screaming ] >> when you are ready. on you. move! move!

are you ready? shooter is down. we are clear. clear! >> let me get my shoes. >> hold on. >> regardless of how many times you see this video, you see that unfold. it is chilling, every single time. dosha burns, who was at the rally speaking to rally goers after the shooting about the horror they had just witnessed. >> i heard several gunshots, the man beside me, suffered a gunshot wound to the head.

was instantly killed. fell to the bottom of the bleachers, another woman looked like she got hit in the forearm or handpick >> somebody got killed. somebody died. somebody got shot. like this close to where we were. the bullets, i pray to god for the people's families. >> none of us on the front row went down to the ground. not one. we wanted to only help the president. that is all we wanted to do. either we could protect him, we could stand around him. i didn't see one person on the row hit the ground. not one. >> honestly shocked it didn't happen earlier. i was commenting to my friend, went to the event, you know, behind the bleachers it is really open. seems like a really open venue and i got a sense that if someone wants to do something. i was openly talking to her, like if something bad was going

to happen it was the perfect venue. i had just said it an hour before it happened. like this would be the perfect place to do it. surprisingly enough it happened. >> reporter: we have been here in butler all this morning, reporting about what we have seen. there are a few things striking about this scene. behind me, i want to give you a scene setter of where the flag is, that is where president trump was speaking on the other side of the barn. the barn on the right, law- enforcement snipers were, the venue has gone viral of the snipers on the side, firing at the alleged assassin, and just down the road, i'm talking about 20, 30 seconds and the car is the entrance to the glass factory. research area. you can see it on the map, that is where the alleged assassin was perched on the rooftop, firing at president trump. ultimately hitting them in that year, tilling a rally goers and critically injuring two others. you can see investigators on the rooftop, this is video we shot when we got here.

also it speaks to investigators working around the clock, this was just before 7:00 a.m. they were on top of the roof, a dozen of them collecting evidence and bringing machinery. is also reporting about the weapon used in the shooting. officials tell nbc news the person who fired up former president trump used nar 50s style rifle, still a lot of unanswered questions about the assassination attempt, how it happened and how much worse it could have been. overnight, former president trump, walking off his plane hours after surviving this assassination attempt.'s talk they said take a look at what happened. >> [ sounds of gunfire ] >> reporter: shots ringing out as president trump decks down. secret service agents rushed to his side, forming a protective shield. other officers in a tactical gear armed with long guns, posted at the front of the stage. >> when you are ready. on you! move! >> reporter: trumps security

detail lifting him from the ground as he raises his fist, his ear and face bloodied, gesturing to the crowd. the secret service, then moving him into an awaiting suv. another angle showing secret service agents reacting to the shots. the former president posting on truth social account, he quote, was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right year. i knew immediately something was wrong in that i heard a whizzing sound, shots and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. this photo from the "new york times", capturing what appears to be a bullet on the right- hand side of the image, whizzing by the former president ear. >> if he had not moved his head, at that nick of time, it could've been a lot worse. >> reporter: mr. trump extending condolences to the family of a person at the rally who was killed and also to the

family of another person that was badly injured. >> the man beside me, suffered a gunshot wound to the head. was instantly killed. >> reporter: president biden who learned about the events, condemned the shooting. >> there is no place in america, for this kind of violence. it is sick. is sick, one of the reasons we have to unite this country. we cannot allow for this to be happening. we cannot be like this. we cannot condone this. >> reporter: this video shows the body of the alleged assassin on the roof of a building, his spot just roughly 150 yards from where mr. trump was eking. one witness telling bbc news, he saw the shooter. >> we noticed a guy crawling, army, you know bear crawling on the roof of the building. we are like, man, there's a guy on the roof with a rifle and police are like, you know, like they did know what was going on. and thinking to myself, why is trump speaking? why have they not pulled him off

the stage. the secret service is looking at us from the top of the barn and i'm pointing at the roof, he standing like this and next thing you know, five shots ring out. >> reporter: early this morning the fbi identifying the gunman as tonya -- thomas matthew crooks of bethel park, pennsylvania. but why he allegedly wanted to kill former president trump, still unclear. the fbi now leading an investigation in the secret service, atf and state and local law enforcement on the ground in a butler, pennsylvania. the alleged gunman killing one spectator and injuring two others. >> this evening we had what we are calling an assassination attempt against our former president donald trump. >> reporter: we have an update on the victims also injured. yesterday at the rally, officials from the allegheny medical center have told nbc news that the two victims are still in critical condition. still a very serious time at

that hospital, to keep those two victims alive. we are joined by john david, the mayor of slippery rock, pennsylvania and was standing just behind former president trump at the rally yesterday. thank you so much for joining our special coverage. walk me through what you remember, what you saw and heard, what you felt. >> it is safe to say we felt a mix of emotions. everybody with me on the ground that day was all smiles. it was a joyous occasion, we were all reminiscing about president trump's 2020 visit on halloween night. to us in butler county where we had such a good time, that we were looking forward to reliving the experience. and of course that was taken from us. the day took a completely 180 when the maniac decided to do violence on president trump and his supporters. >> reporter: what do you remember hearing and seeing when it happened?

>> i remember standing, to be clear on where i was sitting, i was just stage left. at president's 3:00 on the first row, just the barrier between us and his stage. i remember looking at the president, he was actually looking our direction. he was referring to a screen behind us where there was a graph. he was referring to something there and i heard the shots. the first time i heard that shot i thought, there's no way that could be gunfire. it just sounded too quiet to be gunfire. i thought surely a firecracker and because we're in the middle of butler county, which is deep trump territory, i couldn't imagine that was the case. of course i heard, i heard a third and fourth shots ring out quickly thereafter and confirmed what i didn't want to believe and that was what i thought at the time was a small

caliber gunfire. so we all hit the ground. i asked everyone around me to get down low, to the ground especially my wife. i started to scan the area around me. not knowing exactly where the fire was coming from but felt sure it was coming from behind us because you could see the grounds. from that moment, put my head over to see the president and i saw the secret service pounce on top of him to protect him. then i saw them standing up and i saw him raise his fist and in a triumphant defiance of that moment to let everyone know he was okay. unfortunately, something i can't get out of my mind, that unfortunately the individual 15 feet behind us in the bleachers lost his life and of course the others critically injured. it is sad to think they came to that rally looking for a message of hope and instead they were met with violence.

when individual, that man would not be allowed to go home to his loved ones because he was going to enjoy what he thought was a message of hope to the day. >> reporter: it is incredibly sad and completely unacceptable in this country and this day and age. i want to ask when you realize what was going on, were you able to look over and see where the gunfire was coming from or see the law enforcement snipers exchanging fire with the man you described as a maniac? >> no, i didn't see the exchange but i heard it. from my vantage point, the bleachers, while i was down that low, the bleachers were blocking my view. again, we didn't quite know exactly where the gunfire was coming from at that time. i think the folks on the bleachers were more aware of where the gunfire was coming him exactly because they were unfortunately, they were very much so between us and the

gunmen. so i didn't see that and i didn't see anybody on top of the roof. it wasn't until after the fact that i realized exactly where the gunfire was coming from. >> have you learned anything more about this assassin, about what drove him? why he did this. we know he wasn't from this community exactly but he wasn't far from here. >> i couldn't tell you anything more about the motive. we all have our own opinions and gas on why somebody would be driven to do this. what i will say is clearly, and i'm going to continue to refer him as an animal and a maniac who is unlawful mentally and my first thoughts, without knowing motive, are that there's a lot of vitriol and hateful rhetoric often times direct did add president trump and his supporters and very strong language. and very strong language

sometimes. so it is my hope the hateful rhetoric from the last, these claims that donald j trump's presidency would destroyed democracy in the united states or create theocratic fascist date where women have no rights, it is really my hope that language is a motivating this. >> i understand that and i don't think it is time to get into debate about both sides and who says what because it is too early and fresh and what we need right now is information about why this happened. and why it wasn't prevented. and that line of questioning i want to ask, you mentioned you have been to other trump rallies before. did you notice the same amount of security, less security or more security than the other rallies? >> i will tell you this, entering the venue, thought the secret service did a great job handling the giant volume of people.

they were thorough on their checks, our law enforcement professionals on the ground around butler county were there and they showed their priority. which was to keep all of us safe and the rate at which they address the threat and neutralized it, was impressive. i'm not going to add any comment. i'm not going to point fingers and say something was lacking. i want to say from what i saw, law enforcement professionals did a great job and we are grateful for everything that they did. >> i want to thank you for your time and i want to thank you for sharing your experience. i'm sorry this happened to your community, to you and your wife and our thoughts are with the victims and the other rally goer who just came to watch somebody he wants to vote for president and ended up dying. it is truly horrific. >> thank you for having me. >> reporter: right now we are joined by another guest, his name is robert philpot, he's from this community of butler.

robert, come and talk to us. you can come a little closer. you stopped, we are here during our show and you wanted to talk to me. he wanted to tell me something. we just heard the mayor of slippery rock talking about the other butler rally he had been to. you were talking to me about that as well. tell me the message you wanted me to understand because there was something different about that rally versus this rally that you notice. >> my daughter and i went. it was four years ago at the butler airport, not five miles from here. it was an awe-inspiring event, just like wow! but the one thing you notice as we walked in and there and her and i, we're close. and the one thing we noticed, the airport has a lot of hangers, holdings like this. but they hold planes. every rooftop of every hanger had three, four, five guys on top of it. >> when you say guys, snipers? >> with long guns and even some of them in the cyber position.

just scanning everywhere. daughter turns to me. >> reporter: when you notice them right away? >> immediately, the first thing she said, oh my gosh, look at this. she goes, never felt so safe in my life. those were her exact words. >> reporter: this is four years ago at the airport. >> correct. she didn't come with me this time because she's eight months pregnant but she really wanted to. so that was so much on our minds that we talked about it for i don't know, we just talked about it. like so i conspired. first thing i did when i got here yesterday, was i did a complete look around at every rooftop. and i said to myself, that's a strange, i don't see one cop, sniper, nothing. i don't see anything. and i thought, that was kind of weird. >> reporter: what time is this as you are looking around, trying to see what you saw four years ago quick >> four years ago, --

>> today. >> about two hours before he came on stage but i didn't stop looking. because it is something that was in my mind, because it was so noticeable back then. it was also just as noticeable not being that way. >> reporter: did you notice -- that barn right there is where the law enforcement snipers were that engaged with the alleged assassin. did you notice them? >> i did not. i noticed nobody because i scanned every roof. and i thought it was strange because when they showed the google maps looking down, it doesn't give the entire picture of the area because beyond that there's all kinds of buildings and that is why i looked around. >> reporter: you are saying a lot of high points if somebody was on another roof? >> right across 68 here there is a big sports complex with a high roof. i knew the agr building because i know of it. >> reporter: that is where the assassination was. >> i know a lot of people don't

know the area and i'm thinking it would be a grace -- a great place to park. it is real close and i would be out quick. >> reporter: you were going to park there? but because there was so much traffic on the main road that i did get to it. >> did you drive by and see it? >> i drive by it every day. >> i have as well. it is easy to walk into as well. you can walk right into it.'s but that is why i was going to park there because i knew that. but i decided not to, only because traffic was so bad that it would've taken an hour to get to it. so i just parked further down and walked in. but it was -- i still can't process it. i think that's why i came back today because i wanted to look where i was at and say, how lucky -- somebody died, that is

a shame. but i still can't -- last night i was up all night. i don't think i slept well thinking, i just can't believe it. >> reporter: you couldn't believe what you saw? >> i can't leave why. i think the big thing is the why. have we really come to that point? i mean, i remember when reagan was shot, that was different. but that was the last time. like i called my daughter, i called my girlfriend and we were in tears. we were in tears because as i'm walking away, i walked away from the gunshots. the first thing i did was to walk away and there were vendors along this road. and one guy was on the phone and he screams, they just shot trump, he's down. so i got on my phone and called somebody and i called my girlfriend and she's in tears going trump is shot, trump is

down and i froze. i didn't know whether to go out, whether to go in in. i stayed and unlike -- >> a lot of rally goers were probably like you and didn't know what to do and they were in shock and are still in shock. i want to thank you for sharing the information and thank you for coming out here. i'm sorry you had to experience that. kate, going to send it back to you in a new york. >> thank you. as we hear more eyewitness accounts like you heard, officials are trying to piece together what led to this moment. law enforcement said they have identified the suspected shooter but have yet to pinpoint a motive. we have check brewster joining us from outside the suspected shooter's house alongside nbc news justice and intelligence correspondent ken delaney in. what are you seeing and hearing outside? i know there -- you can get very close to the home but have you been able to glean any information from law

enforcement? >> reporter: to explain a little bit, we are 35 miles from where you saw tom having that conversation and we were here overnight, and you mentioned law enforcement keeping us pretty far away from where we know the suspect or the shooter's home to be. that i want you to take a look at what we are seeing and get a sense of how far away we are from where the actual house is. down there you see members of law enforcement, you see the police car. that you go to the right, that is where we believe the shooter's house is, and when we were here last night, there were multiple agencies here on- site. we saw local police, we saw state police, a trooper's vehicle -- let me step out to the side and out of the way for him but the strippers vehicle, that is a state trooper right there. we saw county bomb squad and official officer with the bomb squad came up at one point yesterday and explained around

1:00 a.m. overnight and explained that they were going to be making entry into the shooter's home. his words were imminently. he said where we were was fine. they said they didn't know what they were going to encounter when they got in and or if they would encounter anything. but he gave a warning that they were going to be entering the shooter some for the first time and that was about 1:00 a.m. i mentioned we also saw federal agencies here, the atf were walking around with a long gun, i should emphasize that was in intensity. despite the fact media has been kept away, out of circling what we know the shooter's house to be. the residents of this area were able to stay there and able to stay in their homes. they spent the night in their homes. sometimes you saw them peering out of a window or coming up to see what exactly was happening in their community but we know this is going to be the focus as there's lots of questions we have about the shooter, not a huge criminal history, not a big social media presence. a lot of questions that law

enforcement are trying to figure out at the scene of this home. >> we appreciate that. ken, let me turn to you and you can start where he left off. what do we know at this point about the suspected shooter and what don't we know? >> as he alluded to, there's a lot we don't know but here's what we do know. the fbi has identified him as thomas matthew crooks, a 20 road from bethel park, pennsylvania. that is an affluent sub -- suburb. he was a registered republican but the records show he gave $15 to a progressive political great. so far we are not seeing much public social media posting so we don't really know where he stood politically. records appear to show that he graduated in 2022 from bethel park high school and a local newspaper account list him as receiving a $500 award that year from the national math and science initiative. in terms of holes in the investigation, the fbi is interviewing family and friends

and hunting for digital trail you may have left to determine whether he acted alone and how he became radicalized and the atf, working to determine how and where he bought the semi automatic rifle he used in the shooting. and of course there is a separate and important line of inquiry into what experts say and what the guest told tom appears to be a profound security failure by the secret service. how a man with a rifle was able to take up an elevated sniper position 148 yards across an open field from the former president. >> a lot of questions, thank you for that. i want to take you to another piece of reporting you have about the rhetoric, blaming democrats for this attack against trump. you have been looking at how much is out there right now and turn that it could fuel more political violence. >> there's a lot of it and there are concerns. several republican members of congress directly blamed president biden, democrats and the media for the assassination attempt claiming it was the result of overheated rhetoric about armor president trump and

part of the campaign to jeopardize his safety. for example, georgia republican congressman mike collins posted joe biden said the order and j.d. vance said the central premise of the biden campaign is trump is an authoritarian fascist and that led to his attempted assassination. nick adams posted joe biden's rhetoric is directly responsible, there can be no discussion. this is a fact. right-wing journalist sean davis wrote deranged democrats knew biden couldn't win so they incited one of their cronies to take his opponent out. a quick fact check, it is true that democrats called donald trump authoritarian and a threat to democracy but never hinted violence was an appropriate response and experts worry the false accusations increase the risk of more balance. >> thank you both so much. i want to turn to law enforcement analyst and retired atf agent, jim cavanaugh. he joins me no.

to meet every time there is a horrific shooting like this. this is exceptional. i want to get your initial reaction, is a former president lucky to be alive this morning? >> he is alive by three inches. really, kate, that is all. if the bullet was three inches, even two inches to the right, it would have penetrated his forehead and he would be the seas. he is very, very lucky. it was a day of tragedy for the 30-year-old man who was killed and the other citizen wounded and former president who was wounded. and it was a day of great success for the secret service and a great failure as well. let's talk about oath, the success first. look, the sniper team killed the sniper and had they not killed him, he might have had, a 30 round magazine, he might have been able to continue to pump bullets into the huddle around the former president and

killing the secret service. that would go through the secret service huddle and into the present. he could have been pumping rounds into the crowd. the counter sniper team from the secret service, excellent a+ job. one shot, killed the sniper and did exactly what they are trained to do. excellent work. the detailed on the former president, excellent work. they did the huddle. they got him low. they waited to know that the shooter was down, they checked a clear path to the armored vehicle and they got him in and got him out. rate work. the failure is to have an elevated rooftop with nobody on it. and i have never seen them do that before. i have been on many details with them over the years. we were assigned it to be secret service details in the atf. we were both in the treasury department, secret service and atf, secret -- sister agencies and we work with them constantly on that. they always cover the roof tops. police, uniform police, secret service on the rooftops and it

is amazing to me, a rooftop that close had nobody on it, nobody visible. >> it is amazing to everyone. can i ask a standard operating procedure question that maybe you will or won't no. the secret service, obviously there were at least two looked like snipers or people in position on a roof that took out the shooter. can they pre-emptively shoot someone if they had seen him, if they had seen along that he had a semi automatic rifle, could they have pre-emptively shot him >> yes, if they saw someone crawling up the rooftop with a rifle they could have shot him. that would be someone putting the detective person in an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm. that is a very difficult decision sometimes because you know, we don't know what we're seeing. how is he dressed, what is he doing, you know, could it be something innocent. it is a very difficult situation and a decision to make that they could lawfully make the shots.

but you do, you take that decision away from the sniper by putting uniformed police or uniformed secret service on the roof already. they have enough to watch. there watching wood lines, they are watching a crowd, somebody could somehow get past the magnetometer check, it does happen. they have a lot to look at. take away the rooftops that are close by within rifle range. so they didn't do that, not the sniper team, but overall the detail interest in do that and they should have done that. that is a failure. >> jim cavanaugh, thank you so much. stay with us, much more special coverage on nbc news now and msnbc after a short break . break . shoulders bare clinically proven dandruff protection with just 9 essential ingredients no sulfates, no silicones, no dyes. dandruff protection, minimal ingredients. job done. progressive makes it easy to save

with a quick commercial auto quote online. so you can get back to your monster to-do list. -really? -get a quote at progresivecommercial.com. we're back with light special coverage of the assassination attempt against former president donald trump. this month plenty of reaction to the shooting coming from all sorts of world leaders, also

coming from capitol hill. we are joined by nbc news senior national political reporter. good to see you. we heard earlier this morning on "the today show" from house speaker mike johnson. i want you to tell us for those who missed it, what his messaging was. >> speaker johnson called on americans to turn the rhetoric down, calling on political leaders to turn the rhetoric down, to come together and condemn the horrific act we saw at the trump rally yesterday. he also talked about how congress is going to investigate this and try to get answers as to how it was possible a man was able to open fire at a rally of the former president when it was ostensibly, the strongest security level available. let's play more of what mike johnson had to say on the today show. >> this is a horrific act of political violence. it should be roundly condemned. obviously we can't go on like this as a society. we have gotten briefings from

law-enforcement. i spoke to secretary mayorkas last night and asked him pointed questions with regard to insecurity and what happened. i have already announced that congress will do a full investigation of the tragedy yesterday. to determine, where there lapses in insecurity and anything else the american people need to know. >> the house oversight chairman james comer has requested a briefing with the u.s. secret service, and calling for briefings and investigations. they are also watching security more closely this morning. >> and it strikes me that just two days ago all we were talking about, a lot of what we were talking about was about president biden and his future and about his candidacy and you were talking to democrats constantly on capitol hill, comparing that to where we are now and what you are hearing from democrats and republicans. >> it is night and day, and massive shift of the conversation. we are hearing a variety of reactions and not all of them are calling for turning down

the rhetoric. some of them are dialing up the rhetoric including allies of president trump on capitol hill. republican allies. let's show them tweets here. senator j.d. vance, potential vice presidential contender, praying for president trump and everyone at the rally. i hope everyone is okay. a separate tweet he says some of the rhetoric from democrats and their allies is to blame for this. senator marco rubio, another vice presidential contender, god protect president trump with a photo of blood on trump's face as he was walked off the stage. doug burgum, the governor of north dakota says join me in praying for president trump and his family today. universal concern and thankfulness that trump is okay. hakeem jeffries, democratic leaders said he think of for the decisive earth bones and america is a democracy and political violence of any kind is never acceptable. finally former speaker nancy pelosi, if it some of this targeted political violence herself. said she said little violence

of any kind has no place in our society. thank god for president trump is safe. as we learn more details, let us pray that all those in attendance of the former president valley today are unharmed. >> talk about what happens next on capitol hill. i know they were in session last week and i assume everybody is back in session tomorrow, on a monday. >> that's right. tomorrow actually is going to be the republican convention for next week so they will not be back tomorrow but they are going to be working, starting tomorrow to get these briefings schedule. these are already in the works, conversations are in place. briefings and investigations. it is not entirely clear where it goes but suffice it to say that there are a lot of lawmakers who want answers as to how this could possibly have happened. meanwhile there are conspiracy theories already percolating online about the nature of the event. and that, that is also something leading members of congress are

pleading, to kind of toned down and not throw more fuel on the fire. >> important for people to check their sources before spreading information. thank you so much. stay with us. much more special coverage here on nbc news now and msnbc. we will take a quick break and be right back. ight back. why use 10 buckets of water when you can use 1 fire extinguisher. and to fight heartburn, why take 10 antacids throughout the day when you can take 1 prilosec. for easier heartburn relief, one beats ten.

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before dropping to the ground as more rounds are fired. people screen. multiple agents pile on top of the president to shield him. the dialogue picked up on nearby microphones. >> on your ready. on you. move! >> reporter: seconds later, armed officers rush on stage as word arrives that the shooter is down less than a minute after the first shots. :12 p.m., agents surround the former president as is lifted back to his feet and overheard asking if he can get his shoes. 6:13, mr. trump's bloody face visible drywall of agents as he lifts a fist into the air. mouthing the word, fight over and over again. as he is helped down the stairs and rushed into a waiting suv, surrounded by armed police, the fbi now looking to the moments

leading up to the shooting, including reports that witnesses saw the shooter on a nearby roof outside the rally perimeter before shots were fired. >> i am aware that law enforcement had responded to a number of reports of suspicious activity. the specific response to this will be part of the after action but law enforcement was responding to check on several suspicious occurrences. >> reporter: this frantic cell phone video appears to capture the terrifying moments right before the president was shot. federal authorities, now coming through this footage as they try to figure out this morning how could this have happened. and we have breaking news. we have obtained a new image of the gunman, thomas matthew crooks. here it is, 20 years old. is not from butler, pennsylvania buddies not from far away. still a lot to learn about this young man who came here,

apparently with the desire and the urge to kill former president trump. of course he didn't succeed, he was shot and killed by law- enforcement. this is the first clear image we are getting of this young man. so far as we get more information about him and possibly his motive, we will bring that to you. we are also getting information about a phone call last night between president biden and former president trump after the assassination attempt. i want to bring in gilchrist, reporting from the white house tonight. what do we know about that phone call quite >> reporter: a new from president biden when he spoke last night that he tried to reach former president trump. that was about 8:15 when president biden spoke. between nine and 10:30 they were able to have a phone call and a white house official describes the call to us as good, short and respectful. the president saying, when he did speak around 8:15 that he reached out and was -- had learned former president trump was okay and was hopeful that he would continue to be okay and he would not be seriously

injured from the shooting yesterday afternoon. we do know president biden shortly after we learned about this phone call having happened, returned to washington. he landed a little after 12:00 here in in d.c. he was supposed to stay in rehobeth beach monday but obviously returned home early, so that he could engage with law enforcement, his national security team to get an assessment of what happened yesterday in pennsylvania. we expect the president is going to have that meeting at some point this morning. somewhere in in the next hour and a half or so, that meeting should happen at the white house. >> reporter: as we stake -- take a step back, we are -- we can't forget everything happening with the current president. a president running for re- election, had a very tough debate and has since had tough conversations with his own party. how is the events here changing the president's schedule?

we knew that he had a big schedule with lester holt tomorrow. another interview with bt later in the week, i believe that is on wednesday. you have to assume in defending his own campaign the strategy might have been to attack his opponent, but now does not seem the time or place for that. >> you're absolutely right, it seems at this point, as though all campaign activities have stopped. we haven't heard anything from the biden campaign since the incident yesterday afternoon. we have heard very little from the trump campaign since yesterday afternoon as well, given the seriousness of what happened to a candidate for president and a former president in and donald trump. so i think we're still waiting to hear how and if the president schedule may change. we know this meeting today is happening, senior white house official telling us beyond that, the presidents day today is fluid. does that mean we might hear from him at some point? we will keep an eye out for

that. as far as his schedule into the coming week, we know that there were events planned. the president is supposed to speak tomorrow in texas. i'm supposed to travel this afternoon for that engagement, civil-rights anniversary, the anniversary of the civil rights act i should say. and then to travel to nevada to speak at two events in las vegas later in the week. of course you mentioned as well, the interview with lester holt as well as the folks at b.e.t. news. we are waiting to see if that will change. at this point, the schedule is intact and we will find out whether this changes to what he's going to do. tomorrow was supposed to be an official event compared to the campaign events that were supposed to be later in the week. >> reporter: aaron gilchrist with new reporting for our viewers this morning. we appreciate that. i want to go to my friend ron hilliard who has breaking news that we were just learning about. the former first lady melania trump has released a statement, talking about what happened. what can you tell us about that?

>> reporter: this is notable, melania trump will be here at the republican national convention in milwaukee. she was not at the campaign rally yesterday and it is not clear where her whereabouts are right now but i want to let you look at part of her two page statement in which she writes in part, quote, what i watched, that violent bullet strike my husband, donald, i realize my life and parent's life were on the brink of devastating change. i am grateful to the brave secret service agents and law enforcement officials who risk their own lives to protect my husband. to the families of innocent victims suffering from this heinous act, i humbly offer my sincerest somebody. you need to summon your strength -- it saddens me. she goes on to say, each of us, we all want a world where respect is paramount, family is first and love transcends. we can realize this world again. we must insist that respect fills the cornerstone of our relationships. again, i am

thinking of you my fellow americans. we anticipate lonnie a trump attending the republican national convention. she does not have a speaking slot at this time. she's yet to appear on the campaign trail. except when they voted in the republican primary earlier this year. but this, of course for her and her family, she referenced her son who just graduated high school earlier this year. this was of course, a tragic event and one that nearly took the life of her husband. >> i have had a chance to sit down with the former first lady for a link the interview and one of the things that came through, and i know that you know this, she is protective of her son, baron and as he's gotten older over the years, we are seeing him more and more and there has always been a concern whether with melania or the other trump children about the safety of the president. now it extends to the safety of the trump children as well. >> barron trump never appeared

on the campaign trail with his father until last week at a rally in florida, that was his first campaign event alongside of his father. you mentioned melania trump, very protective of her son. it is not clear exactly why melania trump has taken a sidestep to appear on the campaign through this election cycle with her husband. but we know that upon them leaving the white house she wanted to focus on getting her son through high school, which is now done. donald trump suggested that barron trump has applied to college and will attend university this fall. of course he also has the likes of tiffany trump and don jr., eric and ivanka trump, each of the kids expected to be here. we know that don jr. said he spoke with his father over the phone in the aftermath of the shooting while he was at the facility outside butler being treated. for he and the family, of

course, this is an ever more sensitive moment as they prepare to come to milwaukee for the convention, kicking off and gambling in, 24 hours from now. >> since you are there, have you noticed security uptick since what happened last night? that is number one. number two, does the schedule change for former president trump because before this happened we were on the cusp of waiting the announcement of who was the running mate. >> reporter: i think it gives questions about the schedule and when he would announce his running mate. of course we heard multiple statements from the likes of j.d. vance and doug burgum, tim scott, individuals under consideration. at this point in time, the rnc officials tell nbc news that there are no scheduled plans to change any of the layout of the convention but of course they -- the rollcall, to formally nominate donald trump will

begin tomorrow afternoon. as for security, we went through magnetometers early this morning. milwaukee police and federal law enforcement have been preparing for this moment for years in milwaukee. they spent dancing going up for weeks now. last night we were here in in the late hours outside the arena where the convention will take place tomorrow and secret service is beginning its inspection, to lockdown some of these key areas in the immediate perimeter around the convention to ensure the safety and security. we watched about a couple dozen indiana state police here on sites, that came in and to neighboring wisconsin to aid in protection. this is usually fanfare type of event, a convention but there's a different aura around this and a heightened sense of security. >> fine hilliard reporting live, we appreciate all of your reporting. thank you for that. stay with us, much more special coverage on nbc news now, right after this break. r this break.

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jack we are continuing to cover yesterday's assassination attempt against former president donald trump during a rally in pennsylvania. we have a new photo of the suspected shooter, 20-year-old matthew crooks from pennsylvania. let's bring in cliff watts, and nbc news national security analyst. clint is a contributor and distinguished fellow at foreign- policy research institute. thanks for being here. in a memo to staff this morning that we were able to obtain, trump campaign leaders say they will enhance the arm security presence with 24/7 officers on- site. wherever mr. trump is now, we think he is in in bedminster, new jersey at the moment. secret service also said that they had added protective resources and technology and capabilities because the campaign travel was increasing. can you speak to how things

might change moving forward and how difficult they will be to secure future events, even this week? >> security should always be driven by the threat assessment. of we learned with this tragic event, the threat assessment is at its absolute highest. so every security detail, around the country and that is for both the candidates here in 2024, will have to be increased immediately. the second part of it is, the enduring challenge, going back to the shooting of congressman gabby giffords, which is how you protect elected officials and candidates running for office, when they are trying to engage with potential voters and constituents in a public places. the idea of democracy is that they can go with the people, engage with the people. this is extremely challenging and very resource intensive. it takes incredible manpower and with this travel schedule with presidential portrait -- or president biden, coordinating that from local to

stay and federal resources at each location very rapidly. one stop after another, almost an impossible challenge. so they will need a tremendous increase in technology, vigilance and in terms of manpower to protect these two. >> law enforcement officials have said they recovered a semi automatic rifle from the scene. we've been reporting that, just learned that this money. remind us why that gun is considered highly dangerous. spoke with semi automatic rifles, a few key things. as opposed to the open bolt rifles you sometimes see for deer hunting, let's say, semi automatic allows you to fire one shot with every trigger pull and have a magazine loaded with shells, which means you can fire many times in a row without reloading. you can also do it weekly. you can hear that from the audio yesterday, whenever the tragic event happened. the other part of it is a rifle which gives extended range. the stage to where the shooter was, 150 yards. this is within range of that

type of weapon. when you have a semi automatic weapon that is at an elevated position on the roof in somewhat -- able to shoot multiple rounds, that is your worst case scenario were trying to protect a principal such as president trump. >> we been talking about it all morning, and it is for another day to assess what went wrong yesterday, but i wonder your thoughts, since we have you. a lot of people, eyewitnesses saying they saw things that they tried to tell local law enforcement. what is your take away from all of that? >> the biggest challenge in a situation like this, is the secret service or any security, is rapidly going into a town where there is a rally, providing security and quit needing from local to state to federal levels. there some indication there was communication of suspicious activity, but how you synchronize that with teams that haven't worked together often. the challenges, this is not defending the white house where

you have regular teams that know the process and their battle drills for how to respond to these things. in this case you have to do it with unknown relationships, often times taskforces thrown together quickly and ultimately there's not enough resources likely to move from one location to another in a giant federal apparatus like this, it's always been a challenge so you're limited to the number of office available and that was the perimeter that they set up based on that resourcing. >> let watts, thank you for being with us. we will have much more from the scene in butler, pennsylvania after this. after this. (♪♪) sandals rhythm and blues caribbean sale is now on. visit sandals.com or call 1-800-sandals. sleep more deeply and wake up rejuvenated. purple mattresses exclusive gel flex grid visit sandals.com draws away heat, relieves pressure and instantly adapts. sleep better. live purple.

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the moment i met him i knew he was my soulmate. "soulmates." soulmate! [giggles] why do you need me? [laughs sarcastically] but then we switched to t-mobile 5g home internet. and now his attention is spent elsewhere. but i'm thinking of her the whole time. that's so much worse. why is that thing in bed with you? this is where it gets the best signal from the cell tower! i've tried everywhere else in the house! there's always a new excuse. well if we got xfinity you wouldn't have to mess around with the connection. therapy's tough, huh? -mmm. it's like a lot about me. [laughs] a home router should never be a home wrecker. oo this is a good book title. checked the outpouring of support for former president trump stretching for overseas in the wake of the shooting. readers of several allies reaching out overnight offering support as trump recovers from the attack yesterday. for more on the international reaction, let's get to nbc news correspondent who joins me now

from london. give us a sense of what the reaction has been like in london and across the rest of the world as people wake up, they woke up to the news of the attack. >> it is an international chorus of condemnation from reaction of residence, prime ministers, the vatican, overnight in in europe, the middle east, asia, condemning all forms of political violence. you through some of the statements that of men coming in overnight, and in the morning starting here in the uk with the newly elected prime minister who said he was appalled by the shocking scenes at president trump's raleigh. political violence he said, in any form, has no place in our societies. georgia -- the right-wing prime minister of italy said she expressed hope that the following months of the campaign, the responsibility will prevail over hate and violence. president of turkey said he believes the investigation into the attack will be carried out

in the most effective way in order to not cast a shadow on the u.s. election and global stability. the indian prime minister said he was deeply concerned by the attack on his friend former president donald trump. strongly condemning the incident . olaf scholz, german chancellor calling it a despicable attack. the polish president saying it was a shocking moment not only for america but for the entire free and democratic world. >> have any foreign leaders said they have spoken with president trump at this point? spoke no confirmation on which world leader has had direct contact with president trump, but one of the first statements to be put out by world leaders, are some of his closest allies on the world stage. i am making reference to the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, viktor orban, prime minister of hungary, who in fact missed the last day of the nato summit last week in washington to fly to florida and meet with

mr. trump. that was just two days before the attack. >> and it strikes me that anytime there is an attack on an american president, the u.s. might be perceived to be weakened or a weaker position. how have adversaries been reacting to the news? >> i will start with china, with the foreign ministry posting on the website that china was concerned by the attack saying that the chinese leader had expressed sympathy to mr. trump. sympathy also offered by russia, but the kremlin offering commentary and i will read you some of it they came through. from the foreign ministry spokesperson on telegram saying that instead of sending money and weapons to ukraine, maybe it would be better to use this money to finance the american police and other services, she said, to ensure i and order in the united states. the kremlin went on to say later, he did not believe the u.s. administration was responsible for saturday's assassination attempt but

accused it of creating an atmosphere that provoked the attack. going on to say after numerous attempts to remove candidate trump in the political arena, using first legal tools, the courts, prosecutors, tends to politically discredit and compromise the candidate, it was obvious that said, to all outside observers that his life was in danger. it was just two years ago kate, that the former japanese prime minister was killed during a speech. it was two months ago that the slovakian prime minister was attacked. he luckily survived but it was politically motivated attack and when these things happen, they make headlines for a few days but then the news cycle moves quickly. this is on another level and what happens on u.s. soil reverberates around the world and we will watch closely, if and how the political climate will change. will change. perspective.