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 20-year-old thomas matthew

crooks, but his motive remains a mystery. officials may learn more clues now that they have obtained his phone for examination. sunday night, president biden addressed the nation from the oval office and denounced political violence in any form. >> this kind of violence for any violence ever, period, no exceptions. we cannot allow this violence to be normalized. the political rhetoric has gotten very heated. it's a time to cool it down. >> donald trump has given a new interview to the in your post sharing his expense after the assassination attempt. he told the publication the, quote, the doctor at the hospital said he never saw anything like this. he called it a miracle. i am not supposed to be here. i am supposed to be dead. joining me for morris politics reporter jonathan allen. good morning to you. do you think we will start to

hear more interviews like this when he is speaking candidly about the attack? >> absolutely, alex. it's something he wants to talk about. you saw him with that, what is now a co-iconic image, getting up from the ground and pumping his fist in the air. you can see him mouthing fight, fight, fight. this is something absolutely wants to talk about and rallying his base. something that has rallied republicans have felt outside of his base to some extent back to him. it is something that is not only political powerful but something that how could that not be -- a bullet passed through his ear. when he says he should be dead or he is supposed to be dead, it doesn't come a lot closer than that. >> yeah. it may have somewhat rejuvenating effect on him.

i believe in this interview with the new york post, senator lindsey graham is quoted as saying, he has been rejuvenated. he spoke with him while he was leaving pennsylvania, and said he seems more enthusiastic than ever. >> i don't think that's surprising. if you are given, if you feel you're given a second lease on life, i think that's relatively natural. you have taken an assessment of where things are and probably makes you want to get more things done. makes you want to be more active. that's not terribly surprising. we are in the middle of a political election. there's a lot of this battle to be fought in terms of the politics of it. i don't think it should be surprising that former president trump looks around and says i'm going to redouble

my efforts. i will be more energetic. we have heard he's in very good spirits. >> might the change also the rhetoric? for the same reasons you were talking about a rejuvenation of life and you feel you've been given a second chance, the reality is there's a lot of violent rhetoric going around in this country. there are expectations, the former president let it be known that he will be changing his speech for the rnc at the convention. we heard the current president talking about how violence should not be tolerated, particularly political violence but in any form in the country. do you think the shooting will impact the overall message this week at the republican national convention? particularly from donald trump? >> specific to trump, i think yes. that's what we have been hearing. for the other speakers, our colleagues reported last night

that the other speakers have been told not to change their speeches from what they were planning to say. the organizers don't want 100 features that say the same thing about the shooting, and they want to make sure that former president trump is the one who is delivering the message about that. in terms of the question of whether the rhetoric ramps down the temperature turns down, not only is president biden called for that last night and the night before, but also from trump's perspective there two reasons to do that. number 1, the substantive reason which is he just got shot at. somebody killed at his rally, and he may see this as a moment to need to turn things down. and then on a political level, if you believe you are leading as a candidate, and in his case

he does believe that right now that he is leading, you can sort of freeze the field a little if there is a fence drawn around what the rhetoric is. if biden is calling for lower temperature and trump is coloring for a lower temperature biden decides to change his tack, if he decides to do less to paint trump as an extremist which is been the core of his attack, you could see the field freezing a little bit. a lot of reasons for trump to do that. we will see if he actually does it. it's in his political interest for a long time to alter his rhetoric, to parrot back, and he did not do that. it's one of the reasons -- 2020. >> john up the basis something is done effectively over the years. let me ask about notable speakers to include nikki haley who is unexpected as of just finding out the last 24 hours that she would be speaking. i believe it's tuesday night.

what do you expect to hear from her? >> i mean, i don't think nikki haley has much of an option now. except to praise trump and perhaps give some contrast. one of the things the trump folks would love to hear from nikki haley is an effective message that contrasts trump and biden in a way that gets her supporters, particularly her republican supporters, to come back into the fold. the one wildcard for trump up until this point has been, what happens with all the nikki haley voters who were anti- trump and became pretty allegiant to nikki haley. what happens to them in november? do they show up? do they vote republican? independence and democrats are less likely to do that but they

would like to see her make that contrast. >> let me ask about trump's pick for vice president. is there any reason to think the attack on saturday has changed the planned there? i will throw out a concept we are hearing, a conspiracy concept in some ways, but those people who say oh, look, nikki haley is coming to the convention. many hoped they would team up and that would make it more powerful, more all-encompassing ticket for more republicans to come under those it aren't necessarily fans of donald trump, but they liked nikki haley. is there a chance that will happen? >> it's donald trump. i wouldn't rule anything out entirely. if you're making odds, you wouldn't put a ton of money at it, but at the same time it's politically obvious to choose the person that comes in, that comes in behind you and has a little of her own pace. to unify the party.

the one thing we've heard about trump in terms of changing the message, his own message, is it will be more about unity. perhaps it ends up being nikki haley. i don't know. >> you're not going to put money on it is sounds like. >> -- anything donald trump will or will not do. we think j.d. vance and doug burgum are the finalists and it's possible none gets a final rose and instead sickos to nikki haley. we will have to wait. the former president likes dramatic television. we will wait and see if it ends up being the mass finale or one less exciting. >> oh, my goodness, these tv shows. the way he ran the apprentice. and clearly you are a fan of the bacherlor with the final rose comments. there you go.

thank you so much especially at this hour. let's go to george sirles in butler pennsylvania with the attempted assassination of the former president took place on saturday. it's get to the latest in the investigation. what are you hearing? as you were saying, that stage is still in place for the incident happened. does that indicate it remains a crime scene? >> reporter: every indication it is still a crime scene. when we first arrived here after the shooting, we were fairly close and we could still see the stage. we could see the big american flag the former president was standing under, quickly, soon as we set up, pennsylvania state police telling us we needed to move for our safety. they did not elaborate as to whether was so we had to find a new location. we listened to law enforcement when we told us to move.

the roads were closed, every access point around the state was hard to see, hard to access. presumably because you had that large law enforcement presence. canvassing and looking for evidence and any clues. here we are in the wee hours around midnight we saw the road closures signs start to come down. you are starting to see a flow of traffic. that speaks to how quickly the investigation has moved, and also the sense of normalcy that is going to start returning here to this community. nothing will be normal here because it's the site of this horrific moment in american history. of course, the investigation continues. into finding a motive for why the shooting, attempted assassination, took place. we are getting more in terms of the shooter himself. authorities identifying him as 20-year-old thomas matthew crooks. as you mentioned, they're looking at a domestic terrorism attack. no motive. we know he's a member the local

gun group and the group denouncing the actions he took. from bethel park, pennsylvania. about 30 or 40 minutes away and that was a hub of police activity. registered republican for some voting records show he donated $15 to a progressive turn of projects so that's conflicting ideology. we know the weapon was ar-style that was purchased legally. they don't know how he got it from his father. we know the weapon and his cell phone and two suspicious devices were found in his vehicle were all taken to quantico by the fbi for further analysis. one of the things we know, authorities are doing is trying to find any digital footprint. we noticed early on when the name was released, it's hard to find any trace of anything he was looking at online or any social media presence which is

unusual for someone his age. all of this centering on the big question, how on earth the shooter is so close to the former president and how we had that line of sight? a lot of things journalists were questioning when they could access the people at the rally, interesting conversation . one journalist had with someone that attended the rally. take a listen. >> we noticed a guy crawling bear crawling up the roof of the building beside us. 50 feet away from us. we are standing there. we are pointing at the guy crawling up the roof. >> and he had a gun? >> you could clearly see him with a rifle. we are pointing at him. the police are running around on the ground. we are like hey, man there's a guy on the roof with a rifle. the police are like, what?

like they didn't know what was going on. right here on the roof, we can see him. he is crawling. next thing you know, i'm thinking, why is trump still speaking? why have they not pulled him off the stage? i am pointing at hanford two or three minutes and secret service is looking at us from top of the barn. i'm pointing at that roof standing there like this. next thing you know, five shots rang out. >> reporter: again, that motive unknown. it raises so many questions and we spoke to a former classmate of the accused shooter who described him as a loner. someone easily picked on. whether that played a role in this attempted assassination remains to be seen. >> okay, george solis thank you. our coverage of the attempted assassination continues after the short break. ter the short break.

in the wake of the assassination attempt, president biden is calling on all americans to tone down the devices political rhetoric and come together. addressed the nation last night

and a rare oval office address. here are his remarks in their entirety. >> my fellow americans, i want to speak about the need for us to lower the temperature in our politics. remember, we may disagree, we are not enemies. we are neighbors. we are friends. coworkers, citizens, and most importantly, fellow americans. we must stand together. yesterday the shooting at donald trump's rally in pennsylvania calls on all of us to take a step back. take stock of where we are . how we go forward from here. thankfully, former president trump is not seriously injured. i spoke with him last night and i'm grateful he's doing well and jill and i keep him and his family in our prayers. we extend our deepest condolences to the family of the victim who was killed. corey as a husband, father, volunteer firefighter, a hero. sheltering his family from those bullets. we should all hold his family

and all those injured in our prayers. earlier today, i spoke about an ongoing investigation. we do not know the motive of the shooter yet. we don't know his opinions or affiliations. we don't know whether he had help or support her if he communicated with anyone. law enforcement professionals, as i speak, are investigating those questions. tonight, i want to speak to what we do know. a former president was shot. american citizen killed while simply exercising his freedom to support the candidate of his choosing. we cannot, must not, go down this road in america. we traveled it before through history. violence has never been the answer. members of congress in both parties targeted in a shot of violent mob attacking the capitol and january 6 are brutal attack on the spouse of former speaker of the house nancy pelosi. information and intimidation on election officials for the

kidnapping plot against a sitting governor. attempted assassination on donald trump, there is no place in america for this kind of violence, any violence, ever. period. no exceptions. we cannot allow this to be normalized. you know, the political rhetoric in this country has gotten very heated. it's time to cool it down. we all have a responsibility to do that. yes, we have deeply felt strong disagreements. the stakes in this election are enormously high. i've said it many times that the choice to make in this election will shape the future of america, and the world for the decades to come. i believe that with all my soul. i know millions of my fellow americans believe it as well. some have a different view as to the direction the country should take. disagreement is inevitable in american democracy and part of

human nature. politics was 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. to make decisions guided by the declaration of independence and our constitution. we stand for and america not of extremism and fury but decency and grace. all of us now face a time of testing as the election approaches. the higher the stakes the no -- the more fervent the passion becomes. it's an added burden on each of us to ensure no matter how strong our convictions, we must never descend into violence. republican convention will start tomorrow. i have no doubt they will criticize my record and offer their own vision for this country. will be traveling making the case for our record and my vision, our vision. i will speak out strongly for our democracy. stand for our constitution and rule of law. to call for action at the ballot box.

no violence on our streets. that's how democracy should work. we to be in disagree. we compare and contrast the character of the candidates. the records, issues, agenda and did vision for america. america we resolve our differences at the ballot box. that's how we do it. at the ballot box and not with bullets. the power to change america should rest in the hands of the people. not in the hands of would-be assassins. the path forward through competing visions of the campaign should be resolved peacefully. not through acts of violence. you know, we're blessed to live in the greatest country and i believe that with every power of my being. tonight, i am asking every american to recommit to make america -- think of it, was made america so special? in america everyone should be treated with dignity and respect and hate must have no

safe harbor. in america, we need to get out of our silos where we only listen to those whom we agree. misinformation is rampant. for nectars fan the flames of our division to shape the outcomes consistent with their interest and not ours. remember in america, while unity is the most elusive of goals right now, nothing is more important for us now. standing together. we can do this. you know, from the beginning, our founders understood the power of passion so they created a democracy. it gave reason and balance a chance to prevail over brute force. that's the america we must be. american democracy where arguments are made in good faith. american democracy with the rule of law is respected. american democracy were decency and fair play are just quaint notions but living, breathing realities.

we owe that to those who come before us and those who gave their lives for this country. that's we owe it to ourselves and our children and grandchildren. look, let's never lose sight of who we are. it's remember we are the united states of america. there is nothing, nothing, nothing beyond our capacity when we do it together. god bless you all and may god protect our troops. >> that was president biden speech to the nation last night. only the third oval office address of his presidency. more on the attempted assassination of former president trump and how congress is reacting. reacting.

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.

we are back with our continuing coverage in the attempted assassination of donald trump. on capitol hill, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle united and announcing the attack while also demanding answers. joining me with more on that is gary chromebook. let's get to the latest you've heard coming from capitol hill and lawmakers. what's been the reaction to this? >> the two words have been unity and accountability. i will start with unity. in a rare move, folks from both sides of the aisle, everyone from bernie sanders to senator lindsey graham to ted cruz all saying there should be unity. their needs be lowering of the temperature. any phrase you want to use to end this divisive rhetoric we've seen for so many years here in u.s. politics.

mike johnson put it in no uncertain terms on sunday. here is what he had to say. >> we've got to turn the rhetoric down. we have to turn the temperature down and we need leaders on both sides to call that out and make sure that happens so we can go forward and maintain our free society that we are blessed to have. >> when it comes to accountability, perhaps nobody loves a more the members of congress when it comes to holding power for people accountable. that's what will happen next based on conversations that i've had to members of congress. house homeland security committee, the senate homeland security committee all saying they're interested in having briefings about what happened this weekend and saying they want to have investigations and be able to put out a report to say what went wrong, what can happen so it doesn't happen ever again. >> given that lawmakers are returning to their offices, right in the capitol on capitol

hill, is there discussion of increasing security there? >> there are more than 20,000 people that work in around the capitol area in washington, d.c. over the past several years has been a number of ways the security has been increased. we have seen the physical side of things and things you cannot see from the intelligent side. on the physical side the capitol police and the architect of the capitol are not shy putting up nine foot non- scalable fences when they need to around big events. we haven't heard that will happen anytime soon but during the state of the union or big foreign leader comes to town, those fences definitely go up and so does the increase number of officers at work at any given time around the complex. the other part of this is the intelligence portion and intelligent gathering to make sure something like january 6 doesn't happen again around the capitol complex.

they have been working with washington, d.c., with the metropolitan police and other agencies to create a joint task force, joint operations center where they have the agencies you can think of when it comes to homeland security and keeping the nation's tour and 20 safe in one place so they could talk to each other and share information when they need to. >> points well taken. thank you so much. we are following the latest in the attempted assassination of former president trump and next, the reported lapses in security that have led to pretty tough questions for the secret service. secret service.

the secret service finding itself under increased scrutiny following saturday my in assassination attempt and former president trump which left a bystander dad and two of the seriously wounded. is senior secret service source familiar with the planning of the butler, pennsylvania, even telling nbc news that the roof where the shooter was located was a well-known, high- priority, vulnerability. it was identified one day before during a security walk- through. joining me as a politics reporter. welcome. later today, we have all eyes turning to milwaukee and the republican national convention. i know you're heading there soon. what do you expect the mood to be after all that has transpired this weekend, do you expect people to be a little nervous? to be looking around them, or will they feel secret service got this under control?

>> when i spoke to lawmakers of congress, and some delegates who they are the people that are going to attend the rnc in milwaukee convention, they said most of them said they will be unified and they are excited to see their colleagues. some of them did express fear. they said they were uncomfortable because they felt they might be targeted as republicans considering what happened at the rally the other day. >> interesting. the fact it's a state that does have open carry with guns and while there is that inner perimeter where they will not be allowed, the softer perimeter outside of that, they will be allowed. there's nothing the secret service can do or anybody else, local police as well, to stop someone from carrying the re- concealed weapon with a license or regular open carry.'s is something you think will be a

topic of discussion is you are covering this and having people say there's a lot of guns here? >> i am sure there's going to be a lot of concern. remember, some of these people were in the capitol and capitol -- when a mob attacked. there's this level of discomfort and a lot of these people have gone to trump rallies in the past. they understand the security measures that were taken before. some of them seemed a little confused about how this is going to happen, but the risk heightened here this time. i don't know of any heightened security that will take place, but i imagine that they will respond, law enforcement. >> activities are expected to run as scheduled at the rnc smoothly. there's no upheaval anticipated? >> no.

you got to realize this happened two days ago. it's been in the planning for many many months now. i mean, as i hear of any updates, obviously, i will be alerting my team. as far as i know, there hasn't been any adjustment, specifically around the former president, that's probably a different story. there has been no pay changes. i anticipated them regulating our handbags. possibly, we need to use clear bags but i have not heard that. >> the secret service having said, we have no intention of changing our plans at this point? we don't see the need to do that is something you find surprising what makes sense given the planning they've had? >> i do. i find it surprising that i understand how incredible of a

fetid is to put on something like a party convention like this. there will be hundreds of thousands of people that attend. i don't see how they could have made adjustments. this may change. things feel pretty fluid at this point. as of now, there's no indication that there's going to be any changes around security at this very moment. >> look, in the last 34 hours or so since this horrific incident happened, both sides seem to have tamped down the rhetoric in the aftermath. the question is for how long? give me your sense of the chances it's long-term versus temporary. >> we will see. i think much of it is dependent on the former president and how he presents himself. even before that, i will be monitoring the speeches leading

up to this. when i told members, when i speak to members both republican and democrat, both of them say they were focusing on lowering the rhetoric. at the same time, you see on social media the one side blaming the other side. using sort of, forceful language in this blame game. i am not sure how they're going to execute this, but it's something i know i will be paying attention to as well as other reporters. how they will flip on a dime, it's been such a tumultuous i guess election season. even leading from 2021 and progressively getting more and more aggressive. the language getting more aggressive from one party to the next. >> former president trump is expected to announce his vp pick to have insight into when that will happen? tradition was suggest in this event it would happen wednesday

night with the former president accepting his nomination thursday night. is that when it will happen? >> again, we're talking about donald trump, and he has not stayed the course, the traditional candidate for president i would say. like you said, traditionally it happens wednesday. the candidate comes out on wednesday and gives a speech on thursday. i have been talking to people, gotten no indication that may change, but i will tell you that i do have a ticket to leave early on thursday and a couple people told me i should stay back. again, i have no idea what will happen and how this will transpire. >> which means you probably don't have any idea on who it will be, but you have -- one you will hedge your bets and we saw the three photos there, j.d. vance, doug burgum, marco rubio.

we remembered donald trump and the radio show about a week ago including tim scott as being still among those being considered. is there one you think is gaining traction more than any other? >> when i talk to sources, people point to j.d. vance. it's interesting because at the same point, i hear a lot of republicans say they don't understand what j.d. vance would bring to the ticket, saying he's another, you know, white male. his popularity is not soaring in ohio. you bring over pennsylvania. it's not very clear where former president trump is going to go, but a lot of people -- i have been hearing j.d. vance rising in the ranks. there's been reports alluding to that as well. >> with regard to what donald

trump is allegedly doing, rewriting his acceptance speech, if you heard specifics about the changes he might be making? >> i have not. this will be interesting because this is a candidate who shortly after he was shot at, you know, with blood on his face, raised his hand and we perceive to be saying fight, fight, fight. you know, this will be very interesting. i'm sure it will be a story within himself if he is able to reverse the rhetoric and speak towards a kinder, gentler nation. this is also a campaign strategy . if this works out for him, could donald trump be the person who unites the party? ultimately, the country? we will see. all of this is on the backdrop

of a congress who has such a time right now. republicans have ousted a speaker. they have gotten rid of a candidate, i'm sorry, member of congress. being able to unite his party would be a feat in itself i have to say. >> point well taken. kadia goba, safe travels and thank you for joining us. authorities have identified the victim killed at the rally as 50-year-old corey comperatore. he was a former fire chief and a father two who died shielding his family from the bullets. dasha burns has his story. >> reporter: tonight, pennsylvania state police releasing the names of three victims shot during the attempted assassination of former president trump. 57-year-old david dodge and 74- year-old james copenhaver both in stable condition. 50-year-old corey comperatore

was killed in the crossfire. joseph was feet away from corey comperatore when shots rang out. >> it was chaotic at that point because half the people were looking because they thought it was fireworks but i know it was gunshots. >> reporter: a 30 year veteran firefighter former chief. he died shielding his wife and daughters. the station reeling from the loss. >> it's close to home and in our neighborhood, we find out that one of our own was taken. his life was taken too early. it's tough to process. >> reporter: the man hanging a symbol of warning on the firehouse and enough soccer. uniform still hangs. what's it like to stand here next to his locker where you spend time with him and to see. >> it's heartbreaking but it's a true honor to speak about how good of a man he was. >> reporter: for people who didn't get the privilege of knowing corey, what do you want the world to know?

>> that they missed out on getting to know a great man. god-fearing, family loving man. he would do anything for anyone. he was a man full of love and never knew him to hate anything. we truly lost a good one. >> reporter: the rally a nightmare for so many. >> when he grabbed my hand, i knew my son was scared to death because he was holding my hand. >> reporter: images impossible to forget. aaron was in the first row in front of president trump. >> the sharpshooter went across, trump turned his head. >> reporter: the images for us as she recalled them. >> sad for everybody. you don't like the guy, don't vote for him. don't kill him. we love the guy. >> our thanks for that report. our continuing coverage in the attempted assassination of former president trump. former

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saturday's assassination attempt and former president trump serves as a reminder the political violence has a long history in the united states. four u.s. presidents died by assassination from the country's founding 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 yet again in america with an assassination attempt on former president trump. the republican presidential candidate narrowly avoiding serious injury at the rally saturday in pennsylvania. >> we are clear. >> reporter: well it's not the first time of 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 preece 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 an attempted assassination on president ronald 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. since then, the devices political climate has escalated more leading to the 2020 plot to kill michigan governor gretchen whitmer. the 22 attack and house speaker nancy pelosi's husband paul pelosi. the arrest of a man who was allegedly attempting 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 a growing support for political violence. a recent pbs mpr marist poll found one in five americans think violence might be necessary to get the country back on track. tucker carlson as former president trump whether he was concerned about violence

against them. >> you worry they will try to kill you? why wouldn't they try to kill you honestly? >> they are savage animals. they are people that are sick, really sick. i have seen what they do. i see the links they go to. >> reporter: following the assassination attempt, political science test ian bremmer expressing concern that what happened could lead even more violence. >> this is a great 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 reaching a boiling point. that does it for me. thank you for joining us on msnbc for special coverage of the attempted assassination of former president trump . ana cabrera picks up coverage after the break. the break.

of the asass nan attempt on former president trump. it's 4:00 a.m. eastern. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. right now investigators are in western pennsylvania leading a multi-agency investigation into why a 20-year-old man opened fire on