good evening, everyone. it's 2:00 a.m. on the east coast. we have continuing coverage of the special coverage of the assassination attempt on former president trump. this morning, the presumptive gop nominee is already in

milwaukee were a few hours the republican national convention will get underway. later this week, he will officially accept his party's nomination. the former president was hit by a potential assassin's bullet, skipping with a flesh wound to his right ear. the attack in a rally in butler, pennsylvania, claimed the life of a man attending the rally in two others work critically injured and remain hospitalized. sunday night, president biden addressed the nation from the oval office and announced political violence in any form and he took a moment to remember the man who was shot and killed while attending the rally. >> he was a husband, father, volunteer firefighter, hero. sheltering his family from those bullets. we should hold his family, all those injured, in our prayers. we went to speak to what we know. a former president was shot.

american citizen killed. while exercising his freedom to support the candidate of his choosing. we cannot and must not go down this road. >> this morning, multiagency investigation is underway. the fbi is investigating it as an act of domestic terrorism. the secret service is facing tough questions about how the gunman was able to gain access to a nearby roof undetected before he opened fire. the shooter has been identified as 20-year-old thomas matthew crooks but his motive remains a mystery. joining me, nbc correspondent george solis who is in butler, pennsylvania, where the attempted assassination of donald trump happened during the campaign rally. when he takes to the camera, we will take you there. right now, we will go to the latest on the fbi's investigation. we have just as reporter ryan reilly. what do we know what this hour?

how complicated and multilayered is this investigation. >> it will be complicated and they will conduct the interviews with friends and family and they have attempted assassin here. that will be a major part but the other side is the digital side. someone born in 2003. someone who spent their entire life online in some capacity in the digital realm and some capacity so you can piece together a lot of this. unlocking the phone, that's a question whether they can exploit the phone and get inside it. that's been an issue for the fbi in previous cases. there have been workarounds they've gone through but because of the level of encryption available, consumer products these days, it makes it a higher task for the fbi to get access to the data which can reveal so much about what the individual was thinking and what was motivating him. that's the big thing the folks

at quantico and the fbi will be working on. >> i wondering about his parents. mother and father, lived together in bethel, pennsylvania. to what extent will they have to be involved in this investigation? >> we were told earlier by the fbi as they were cooperating to a certain extent. that is there hope this will be continued cooperation. the weapon was originally purchased by the father but there's no indication the father was somehow involved in this. i think that's what we've gotten so far. there has been reporting that he believed his son a gun to the shooting range and not aware what was happening. that's what we have up to this point in terms of the actual weapon and how we got access to this. a lot of open questions that the fbi will continue to hunt down. >> we know he was a gun enthusiast. did and he tried to join a gun

club, and apparently he was denied entrance to the club in high school he was going for? >> there seems to be a lot of obsession with guns. a pattern we see time and again with a lot of the shooters, usually in a school shooter context. there seems to be a long association with weapons for him. >> what about this is a crowd sourced investigation by the fbi. can you tell how crowdsourcing has involved in fbi investigations and that includes january 6, right? >> completely. crowdsourcing if you want to call that is the beginning, if you go back to the lindbergh can back -- kidnapping and that's when they got the public involved trying to use public pieces of information get as much information from the public as possible. trees that to the digital age of the fbi is a little behind during the boston marathon bombing because there were folks working at the fbi who were expecting to have this flood of calls a what was

happening is in boxes were getting slammed with this digital video. that's something the fbi was catching up on even up to 2021 in the january 6 capitol attack. when you have a major event like this, witness testimony is the second best thing. maybe not even the second best thing. it's not the best thing which is raw video footage. that's what you can use to piece this together. it's a mosaic the fbi will try to be piecing together and figure out what happened. if you look at the crowd shots, you see digital devices in the crowd. the fbi doesn't have access to that immediately. they would like to and that's whether putting out calls to anyone who filmed video should send it in even if it was in a great failure or if you think of

matching the video and matchup the shots and figure what was going on, every piece of evidence is an important part of the investigation. that's why the fbi has been aggressive about saying even if there's not a lot of mystery about the shooter, they want every part of this. this was a major marker in american history. there will be books and movies. this is something they want every piece of evidence they can get as soon as possible to put it together and it stamp down on conspiracy theory because they've seen so much floating on the internet, nonsense conspiracy theories that critical theory would bust apart. of course, as much evidence as possible can break down those barriers. >> that conspiracy theory is a sign of the times. thank you so much for that. >> george solis is joining us from butler, pennsylvania. the site to that disastrous campaign rally. let's get to a couple of questions. what if you found out about the gunman, george? >> reporter: reality is we are

starting to peace more and more about this accused shooter, thomas matthew crooks. as you heard, police believe he was a lone actor. one thing we did hear is he was a member of a gun club in the area and the glen -- gun club denouncing what happened. sending their condolences not only for the individual that lost their lives but the two people who were injured as well. we know is from bethel park, pennsylvania which is 30 or 40 minutes from here. that area police activity as soon as the name one now. one thing authorities notice is when they found the home, they recovered a cell phone which is crucial to this as you heard ryan say. one of the things authorities did mention is the lack, at least what we have seen, lack of social media presence. a 20-year-old, it's unusual to not have some digital footprint. at this point, trying to piece it together.

what he was writing and what websites he might've been visiting is crucial in the investigation. one of the other things we have heard is a former classmate of his when he was in high school saying he was a very unusual, maybe a loner. described as a type of person who is easily picked up. listen to what the former classmate told us. >> yeah, he was bullied almost every day. >> in what way? >> he would sit alone at lunch. he was an outcast and you know how kids are these days. see someone like that and they target them because they think it's funny. it's the best way i can describe it. it's honestly kind of sad. i don't want to say this is what provoked it, but you never know. >> you said he was a loner? >> yeah. i want to say he was a loner more because he was quiet, but he was bullied. he was bullied so much. so much.

>> reporter: obviously something authorities will be looking into and how that may have played a role in to any of this. other things people in the community want to focus on is not so much on the shooter but the victims. this was a large trump rally and some of these people we have encountered, it was their first one. wanted to come and see the candidate they were supporting for this race, and obviously this tragedy unfolded. governor josh shapiro today taking a moment to talk about the father, the girl dad as he described who lost their lives during this horrific shooting. 50-year-old corey comperatore , a firefighter, and one of the things he wanted the people to know is he died a hero. he was shielding his family when the shots rang out. the other two individuals who were injured, a 57-year-old david dutch and a 74-year-old

from the area. the only solace is we have heard the two people injured are in stable condition but this community reeling from this tragedy, this moment in american history. that stage is still set and roads open that were once closed but needless to say it's no comfort or solace to this community knowing what transpired on the campaign rally day. >> say the stage is still there? it has not been dismantled? did you hear that? is the stage still there? it hasn't been dismantled yet? >> reporter: having difficulty hearing you but i think you're asking if the stage is still there. yes, everything is frozen in time. the american flag where the former president once stood still actually there.

the only difference is the lights that were once on are turned off. it will be interesting to see as the day begins and we see daybreak if it will begin to be dismantled or if investigators are working to piece the evidence, collect ballistics, and continue processing the scene. it's telling the road is open. the investigation moving at breakneck speed because they want to get as many information out as possible, especially about the breach of security. it will be interesting to see how this unfolds in the coming hours as we begin to see some light. >> point well taken. it is a crime scene. and one heck of one at that. over coverage of the attempted assassination begins after the short break.

president biden addressed the nation in a rare oval office address calling on the country to unite and toned on the violent rhetoric. joining me with more on this gary grumbach. welcome. what message was he sending overall to the american people with this address? >> it's a unique speech. it was not a campaign speech. not a speech of the president trying to prove he could do the job. something we've seen so much of over the past two weeks. it was a speech as a president acting as commander-in-chief

trying to heal what's a deeply divided nation, as we have seen not only this weekend, but the past several years. he brought up several events over the past several years that involve political violence. you talked about january 6. he referenced the congressional baseball game where steve scully's was shot. he referenced the attack on paul pelosi in san francisco. he spoke about the need for national unity and for lowering of the temperature as it related to some of the rhetoric involved. here is part of what he had to say. >> this is -- in democracy. part of human nature. politics must never be a little battlefield and god forbid a killing field. i believe politics ought to be an arena for peaceful debate, to pursue justice and make decision guided by the declaration of independence and our constitution. we stand for and america out of extremism and fury but of decency and grace. >> the decency and grace he

talks about is some of the administration and his campaign is taking to heart. on the administration side has promised a full investigation into exactly what happened to make sure nothing like this ever happens again from the law enforcement side of things in terms of perhaps what signals were missed. on the campaign side, is been a number of changes as well. he has canceled his scheduled for tomorrow as it stood where he was planning to go to austin, texas for the anniversary of the civil rights act. he is going to be doing an interview with lester holt tomorrow night that will air in prime time on nbc and he will be heading out west for a number of campaign events. things will get back to some semblance of normal, but things have changed frankly forever here. >> campaigning is normal, if you will. when does it return? it feels like this week will be quite extraordinary with a focus on the rnc, will president biden be out later in the week after he does his

interview with lester tomorrow? >> he will do the interview around 3:45 according to the public guidance released by the white house. he will be heading out west to nevada. he has several events with specific groups in las vegas and after that he's planning to head back east towards washington for several events in this area as well. things will get back to a normal schedule at the end of the week. >> thank you so much for that. coming up more in the attempted assassination of former president trump. sident

z's baking the house special. arisa's styling a new look. and steve's filling his biggest order ever. with the first ever comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee, these business owners get five years of value on gig speed internet and advanced security, all from the company with 99.9% network reliability. so now they can focus on doing what they do best for the next five years. that's a lot of bread. you got this. the comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee. switch today for a limited tim.

as the secret service continues to investigate how the man attempted to assassinate donald trump was able to get so close to the former president, sources tell nbc news the secret service had flagged that building near the rally site is being a security concern. investigators will be scrutinizing how a gunman was able to scale it and crawl across the rubicon detected before opening fire. we have learned there are two countered sniper teams and that the counter sniper did not need approval to shoot. one source telling nbc news the prior protocols were not followed and looking ahead to the republican national convention which is set to begin later this afternoon believes secret service agents for the rnc said there will be no change to security operations.

joining me again, nbc national security and global affairs reporter dan deluce. welcome back. let's talk about milwaukee. all eyes are matt this week for the republican convention. secret service held a briefing on sunday. what can you tell us how they are preparing in the wake of this assassination attempt? >> political convention is always a very high priority event. the highest kind of status when it comes to security concerns. huge amount of resources and planning are devoted to both parties conventions every year in a normal year. but after what happened this weekend, there's no question there is a heightened alert, certainly psychologically, there has to be heightened concern that someone tried to take the life of former president trump, and there will be tremendous security precautions. i think they will go over other protocols, all of their precautions the entire playbook

to make sure that everything is locked down and handled carefully. remember, after the 9/11 attacks when there were political conventions in 2004, there was tremendous security. it was expanded and increased, and we may not be able to see any changes, but i think there will be an intense focus and the secret service and the fbi are under a lot of scrutiny now after what happened. >> it sounds like you are suggesting what they are saying publicly may not reflect what they are doing behind the scenes. is that a fair thing? >> i think that's a fair statement. they also don't want to reveal. obviously they're not going to announce other different security precautions they may or may not be taking. they don't want to tip their hand. that's part of it too, and they don't want to spread panic and they don't want to create alarm. they are saying we have this

and we are planning for it, and it does not change anything. there is truth to that because of their plans and security precautions won't change because of what happened because they already were taking this seriously. certainly, both conventions are sensitive events. no question, given the rhetoric in this country and the political atmosphere and what happened this week. >> with regard to lawmaker reaction, what are you hearing? this was on a weekend and many of the lawmakers, congress people, they have their own races in their home districts doing their own level of campaigning. how much has there been commentary about this and the path forward for lawmakers? >> there has been some very sharp comments from both sides of the aisle. you had the house intelligence chairman, congressman turner, asking how did this happen?

we have to get answers as to how is is possible that someone could be in the line of sight on the rooftop unprotected and able to open fire and come very close to streaking former president trump beyond how he was grazed on the year. also, there are questions about, from both parties, the homeland security members are raising questions. it's suggesting this was a security failure. that there has to be documents produced and they want answers from the secret service and from law enforcement and from federal government officials as to how this happened, why it happened, and were there protocols that were not followed? were the rules that were not followed? were there a resource question. there's been a tremendous amount of disinformation flowing across social media,

she to know. so much is completely false. one of those that would somehow resources were diverted somehow from the security for trump's campaign. that's not true. the secret service had publicly said last month they had expanded security for former president trump as the campaign was getting underway. i don't know if it's a question of resources, the implication seems to be a could have been protocols, rules, procedures were somet followed. >> conspiracy theories aside, i'd like to think this investigation would be one where there is a sense of unity. there wouldn't be political finger-pointing as we are trying to get to the bottom of this. do you get a sense that will proceed? >> that's how the federal government is saying they will proceed in the fbi and others are saying they will proceed. that's what lawmakers are saying. certainly, i've not heard lawmakers make accusations that

are somehow politicized when it comes to the security precautions are how the security was managed, yet. and then, these broader questions about rhetoric which has been mounting and growing and growing and an acute concerned given what happened. >> broadly speaking, what have you been hearing from the international community? is there, bottom line, the same level of trust intact in the united states for the united states when it comes to how the country can handle security? >> that's a good question. don't forget some of these countries have had their own security problems. they also have very divisive, polarized debates, especially in europe and jeff are right parties on the rise there. there have been incidents in germany and elsewhere, tax on candidates. i think it would not be surprising if ambassadors were to be coming to the white house

and the state department seeking, are you guys handling data are you on top of this? are we safe when our out-of- state comes? we want some reassurance as to how this happened. i think they will be politely but firmly asking questions themselves. i don't think they would want to say something publicly, but they've got to be worried a little that this happened. remember, we have a problem with this. the united states has had a terrible history when it comes to assassinations or assassination attempts. the last against ronald reagan which he survived, which was very serious. he was shot and now this. and then there have been attacks on lawmakers as well. the threat level against members of congress has really spiked, which we and others have reported on. i think that's something

foreign governments watch, but mainly they want to see a stable, secure united states. and they see this as calling that into question, and they will be looking to see the rhetoric is toned down. if the political atmosphere becomes more intense and more divisive or not? they are watching to see if political violence is something that takes over the united states. >> you have the foreign entity questions then you've got to have, what in your mind is top of mind, the first question that needs to be answered from the secret service as to what happened on saturday? where do they begin? >> i think they will look at the planning. they will see, okay, did you plan for this? did you prepare for this? if you identified some potential vulnerabilities, how did you address those? if you looked at that rooftop and said, we are going to have to take care this.

we have to keep watching this, then what was their response? they will go through then what happened as the rally unfolded. they will look at every single step of what happened . how the secret service agents ran to the stage . how they operated and communicated. the local police communicated and operated. the main question, i think, is no mystery. you are looking at these videos . how as a possible that an armed man was able to climb on that roof and have a line of sight to the former president? the fact there were witnesses calling out to the police, something went terribly wrong. we still don't have all the facts and we will have to wait. we do have to be warning everyone not to jump to conclusions and please do not listen to conspiracy theories that are flowing at an incredible rate. don't forget the russians and chinese and other adversaries will be seizing on this moment

to try to amplify some of those conspiracy theories. we got to stick to the facts. it's early days. we still don't know a lot about the shooter. we don't know the motive is president biden and others have said. we don't know a lot at this point. we got to wait for the facts to emerge and not jump to conclusions. >> very sage comments is always from you my friend. we are following the latest on the attempted assassination of former president trump tonight. next, the effect the violence will have on the republican national convention. national convention.

saturdays assassination attempt on former president trump serves as a chilling reminder the political violence is a long history in the united states. four u.s. presidents have died by assassination since a country's pending and seven others survived attempts on their lives. liz kreutz takes a look at political violence in our history. >> take a look at what happened -- >> reporter: political violence strikes again in america with an assassination attempt on former president trump. the republican presidential candidate narrowly avoiding serious injury at that rally saturday in pennsylvania. >> we are clear. >> reporter: while it's not the first time a president presidential candidate has been the target of political violence, it's been decades since such a high-profile attempt.

in 1963, president john f. kennedy was shot and killed in dallas while riding in a motorcade. >> two praise with president kennedy say he is dead. >> reporter: his brother robert kennedy shot and killed five years later in 1968 while campaigning for president. then, 13 years after that, in 1981, there was the attempted assassination on president reagan. in recent years, politicians on both sides of the aisle have also been the target of attacks like democratic congresswoman gabby giffords who was shot in 2011. republican congressman steve scalise who was shot at a congressional baseball team practice in 2017. the divisive political climate has escalated even more. leading to the 2020 plot to kill michigan governor gretchen whitmer. the 2022 attack on house speaker nancy pelosi's husband paul pelosi and the arrest of a man who was allegedly attempted to kill supreme court justice

brett kavanaugh the same year. >> i cannot condone this. >> reporter: republicans and democrats are condemning the attack on mr. trump, but the incident only punctuating concerns about the growing support for political violence. a recent pbs npr poll found one in five americans think violence may be necessary to get the country back on track. last summer, tucker carlson asked former president trump whether he was concerned about violence against them. >> are you worried they will try to kill you? why wouldn't they try to kill you, honestly? >> they are savage animals. they are people that are really sick. i have seen what they do. i've seen the links they go to. >> reporter: following the saturday assassination attempt political scientist ian brummer expressing concern that what happened in pennsylvania could lead to even more violence. >> >> this is a grave turn of events in a country that is deeply polarized. i deeply worry that it presages

much more political violence and social instability. >> reporter: a dangerous reckoning in america reaching a boiling point. >> our thanks to nbc liz kreutz. later today, donald trump and the gop will kickoff the republican national convention two days after the former president was grazed by a bullet from a high velocity rifle at a rally in an appear in assassination attempt. joining me we have jonathan alter, nbc contributor. well this incident change the tone of the convention this week? what are your expectations at why? >> it definitely will. former president trump has already indicated he is rewriting his speech. if he is rewriting that speech, that means all the other speakers at the convention are doing the same. they will be toning down the rhetoric some. you won't see attacks, for instance, on nancy pelosi with the viciousness that they might

have had before this incident. for obvious reasons. her husband was attacked and there was a lot of criticism of donald trump for his response to that attack. they want to avoid anything that will take away from what will be a very very positive political event for them. you can expect that trump will go up in the polls and get a significant bounce out of this convention. he is kind of a john wayne figure at this point. you will seeing that turn up, i think, also come out. they will try to tone down the rhetoric. the question is for how long? after steve scalise who was in the republican, is in the

republican leadership in the house, after he was seriously wounded in 2017, at that congressional baseball game where a bunch of other members of congress had to dodge gunfire, one would've thought that that might have had the effect of turning down the temperature a little bit. it was a temporary effect. then they were back and some in both parties to this very inflammatory rhetoric. there has been, it's a factual matter, i think senator j.d. vance is quite wrong when he says that this is the product of rhetoric on the left. rhetoric on the right has, as a factual matter, then more inflammatory and more connected to violence and more willing to tolerate violence than on the left. january 6 was a violent event and people were celebrating

those. >> do you think there's any chance or is it baked into the dna of the republican party that this will start a conversation that might've started after steve scalise, but it didn't, but the fact it is donald trump who had the assassination attempt on his life. his place at the top of the republican party, will let big questions on guns in this country? the proliferation of guns? the ability to secure a gun in a home. the responsibility factor that, whether there should be ar- style rifles, not that nbc has confirmed that is the rifle that was used, but is presumed to be until proven otherwise. will conversations begin about gun control within the republican party are on the floor in milwaukee? >> it's a great question.

i think it's possible. i would not say it's likely, but i do think it's possible. if you remember to when steve scalise was shot then president trump actually opened a conversation about some gun safety legislation. quite recently, joe biden signed a modest gun safety bill . that required some bipartisan support. the national rifle association is politically weak right now. there is a chance that there could be an opening or something. something quite personal happens like this, when a presidential candidate is shot with what we think, as you said it's not confirmed, ar 15, that has to have some effect on his attitude toward the weapon and from nearly 150 yards away. think about that. that's 1.5 football fields.

that's a long way away with a very powerful weapon. i hope that you are right in the premise of your question and it opens this new conversation which we need. >> let's turn to some of the republicans were slated to speak at the rnc. you have former south carolina governor nikki haley who has announced she is going to be there and give a speech on tuesday after just that week saying i was not invited. we have former fox news hose tuckered carlson will be there on the ninth. how do you see republicans coming together to rally around trump this week? particularly after what has transpired these last 30 plus hours? >> they have an extraordinarily unified party. that poses a problem for democrats who right now are divided. so you see people like nikki

haley who was quite critical of former president trump during her campaign and now she's eating all those words. my sense, this is just my opinion, a lot of these folks are looking more to their own political careers -- because they know and in some cases have said that a second trump term would be a threat to the constitution. remember, he said he would, quote, suspend where he to become president again. we are dealing with a very different situation than we have seen in earlier elections where there wasn't much difference between the candidates. every republican, i think, faced a character test about whether they can support this man who right now is looking good and there's a lot of

understandable sympathy for him in this moment. they have to take a hard look at this man and ask themselves whether they are comfortable with more than 40 of his former senior officials in his first, when he was in office, 40 of him saying he's unfit to be in office. these people speaking at the convention will have to be doing so with the knowledge that many of them in private have said he is unfit for office. you will see none of that at the convention. it will be a lovefest, the likes of which we may have never seen. >> well, there will be a lot to watch it will do it with your help. good to see you, especially as we are approaching 3:00 on the east coast. you are a loyal friend to be on with us. as we continue cover to the assassination attempt of former president trump, details are

emerging of rally goers up with their own lives at risk to help others get to safety. here is tom llamas with some of their stories. >> reporter: tonight, a nation and shock wally community unites in mourning. >> we need to come together as a human race, you know? we need to help each other out. >> reporter: what led to the senseless act of violence? we may never know. at that rally, another picture emerging. heroes who jumped in to help the shot and injured without hesitation. >> i heard several gunshots. the man beside me suffered a gunshot wound to the help and i helped carry him out. >> reporter: trend -- corey comperatore making the ultimate sacrifice. shielding his wife and daughters from the gunfire. killed while looking out for his loved ones. >> corey died a hero. corey was the best of us. >> reporter: others jumped

into action too like er doctor jim sweetland. your instincts kicked in. >> it did not until i was walking out. it was muscle memory. >> reporter: he told me the strap a veteran who saw him covered in blood from the victims he was caring for an offer to help them. >> i was covered with blood the 11th hour with stephanie ruhle -- he was an army combat veteran and he came up to me and said brother, there's blood on your face. i said, okay. he gave me his water bottle and i washed it off. he put his hand on my shoulder and said, are you okay, brother? >> reporter: a moment you will never forget. >> never. that guy was an american helping me and to me that's america. >> our thanks to tom llamas for that report. our continuing coverage in the attempted assassination of former president trump. residen

instead of trying the latest weight loss fad join over 5 million people that have switched to golo as a better way to lose weight with golo you simply take one release supplement with each meal and follow the golo for life plan the seven natural plants and three key minerals in release helps support weight loss by targeting body fat and combating the stress of dieting golo is the effective & affordable weight loss solution get started today at golo.com thats g-o-l-o dot com

a new interview with donald trump about the attempted assassination. we will bring the details on that and congressional leaders in washington rick to the news of the attack. with the coming hours, days,

and weeks may look like in d.c. and beyond. concerns about security are calling into question just how prepared that venue was to host the president. why the secret service says it will not be expanding security at the republican national convention. you are watching our special coverage of the assassination attempt of former president trump. ident trump.

a very good evening and good morning to all of you. it's 3:00 a.m. on the east coast and midnight out west. i am alex witt continuing our coverage of the assassination attempt on former president trump. the gop nominees in milwaukee where the republican national convention will get underway. just a few days after a gunman shot and wounded him, trump will officially accept the party nomination for president. he is expected to announce his vice presidential choice. trump was injured saturday during the attack at the rally in butler, pennsylvania. a man attending the rally was killed. two others were injured and remain hospitalized. this morning, multiagency investigation is underway into the incident. the fbi is investigating the shooting as an act of domestic terrorism. the secret service today is facing tough questions about how the gunman was able to gain access to a nearby roof undetected before he opened fire. the shooter has been identified

as